Summerside Journal -- 1868-01-23 -- Page 2

REMARKABLY OASE OF TRANOS
VISIONS OF AN INDIANA
BERVANT GIRL.

The people living in the vicinity of
Whiteland, Jobnson County, have recent-
Jy been very mush excited over a matter
which, to say the least, is very strange.
Several weeks since Miss Van Arusdale,a
young woman about seventeen yeu old,
living atthe house of a family near White-
land, m the capacity of a servant, was
taken sick with something like hysterics.

She had been confined to her bed a little!

over a week, when to all appearance she
died. The body, however, did not lose
its warmth, and a very slight pulse re-
mnnined,

‘The people with whom she was living,
supposed that sho was dead, and were
making preparations to bury her, when
the physician interfered, forbidding any
puch step. After remaining in this state
twelve kours, cousciousness returned and
the girl pronounecd herself much better.
She then went on to describe her sensa-

tions and experiences duzing the trance, |

averring that she had visited heaven and
hell, and had conversed with the Saviour
and many persons whom she had known
on earth, She spoke of secing persons in

yak ane Sats eens

cultivate it only to the extent of yielding |
iim a bare subsistence. ‘Lhe loss to the)
North is said to be equal to £50,000,000 |

i year in the cousumption of her!
so that the sudden abolition
ot slavery, while it has ruined the planter,
has alsu materially injured the New Eng-
lander, And the worst, we fear, bas yet
to come, | :

Wuy tur Reciproc Treaty was Re-
| Pratip.—A United States paper—the Con
mercial Lulletin, in an article’ on Senator
Ramsay's conglomerate resolution, mikes
jthis candid confession—* After having sig-
jnally failed in turcing our Provincial neigh-
bors into the Union by repealing the Reci-
procity Treaty, and after driving the trade to
foreign markets, we shall show our wisdom
by furbearing to at any proposition which
; bears the resemblance of a grasping polic
provided it seconds out efforts to regain tl
trade.” This is candid and considerste—very.
It lets the ‘eat out of the bay,” and we
see plainly why the Reciprocity ‘Treaty was
repealed, Yet in the face of this very plain
jeuitelnone, we hear it stgted in dillerent parts
fof these Provinces, ** Oh, we would never
have had the Treaty repealed, if it had not
been for Canada, ‘The people of the United
ates hate Canada, but love with a tender
Maritime Provinces.” And coupled
, one often hears it stated t it is

both places whom had recently died; in
heaven, a young man named Quinn, who,
although at one time a professor of re-
ligion, had in the last year or two of his

life led_a bad life; in hell, the two men, |

Hatchell and Patterson, who were lynched
at Franklin on the night of October 31,tor
the murderof Lyons, at Greenwood, Miss
Van Arsdale sent for a number of persons
in the neighborhood, and not only impart-
ed to them news of lost friends, but told
of sins committed by them, supposed to be
unknown to any one. Among others was

a man who had participated in the exceu |

tion of the man named above; she told
him that he had been there that night
(which he acknowledged), and in’ the
sight of Gad committed murder, Previous
to this, the names of the band had been
kept a profound secret, and this man had
not even been suspected. She narrated a
good many strange things, relating main-
jy to individuals both in this world and the
other, many of whict would have been al:
most impossible for her to have invented,

Jut the stravgest part of the story is yet
tocome, A few hours after the expiration
of the first trance she predicted that she
would have another, and told to a minute
the time at which it would end. Every-
thing turned out as she had said; at the
exact time she fell into the same state.
In an ordinary tranceg or cataleptic state,
respiration is not suspended, but in’ this
exse breathi.g¢ could not be observed. She
was to all appearance dead; but the pulse
beat faintly, and the body was not cold.
All sensation was gone, ‘The physician
mide numerous experiments, pricking the
body, opening the veins, and so forth, to
discover if there could be any deception.
In the end he was perfectly convinced that
there was none

At the expiration of the time set by
herself’ she came to, and in a few hours
was well enough to go about the house.
‘The story of her experience in the second
trance was similar to the first one, and
was confined almost wholly toiadividuals,
She seemed unable to describe the places
she had been in, but gave histories of
events and person with remarkable min-
uteness. She sisi that she should
never have a recarkenes of the trance un-
less she should coinmit some tl
her authovity for this predictio:
the Lord himself had told her so,

This is certainly a strange thing. The
irl is uneducated, and has lived about as
& servant ever since she was able to
work. She has alw borne a good char- |
aeter for truthfulness, and is a member of |
a chureh. She is almost the last person
in the world to have manufactured ‘such
stories, and one thing especially noticeable
is the fact of her sending for persons to
whom before her illness would have
been afraid to have spoken, and conyers
ing with them without the least restraint,

Canada (that was) which lies inthe paul
| obstruction toa renewal of the Treaty. That
fis notso, Our Republican neighbors know
| the glorious results to be derived from a policy
fof divide and conquer,” and are in conse-
| quence busy spreading the statement that if
it had not been for the back Provinces, Novi
| Scotia would have had a treaty long ago. All
which is about ss true gospel as is Joe Sanith’s
Mormon Biblo,— dz. Reporter.

Tue Vatce or Sr. Tuomas To tun Unirep
Stratus. —A writer inthe New York Ttrases
thus discourses on the advantages which will
insure to the United States from the acquisi-
Won of the Ishind of St. Thomas:

By the possession of St. Thomus the United
| States make themselves masters of Vorto
| Rico and Cuba, and in this it is necessary to
; confess thit Secretary Seward has proven}
jhimselfa great strategist, having made an
irresistible & movement against Spain. |
getting to her windward and placing Porto
Rico under the 12-inch Parrett and Dahlgren
gins of Fort Carlotta Amalia,

The illustrious Webster, in 1827, speaking
of the Congress of Panama, proposed by
Bolivar, said that not even Spain had se
much interest in the Spanish gAutilles as the
United States. ‘The ance of power”
between the North and South afterward pre-
vented ingression of Cuba and Porto Kico
into our Union, with an increase of political
power, thinks to. shive in favor of the

oT
20,

South. This political r n has disappeared,
Slavery no longer exists, and therefore the
radical ditlculty in the way of acquiring the
Greater Antilles has) b removed. ‘Lhe

United States without slavery are, for Cuba
and Porto Rico with slavery, tlre gliss of
Archimedes, invented for the purpose of
burning ships fromafar The ancient mathe-
matician, although right in’ principle, never
succeeded in effecting his purpos But with
the new ustorious glass it happens that it is
as successful in its effects a3 it is rational and
nd in principle:

‘Lo propose to Spain, as chivalric and full
of vanity as her illustrious Don Quixote, to
sell us Bilin: would be an insult, and the ex
rebel Soule lost his leg when sattetying at
the pistol’s point the wounded honor of the
Spaniarda which he had injured by merely
proposing what they will now come and ask
us to do,

The New York Tribune gives publigity to
arunmorthita plot has been discovered on}
the part of the Fenians to kidnap Queen
Vi uwhile visiting the sanctuary of the
late very much Iunented Prince Albert, and
shipping heron board a gunboat for Aby
sinia, where that ferocious savage could have
carried out at his leisure his intentions to
compel her to marry him. ‘The plot, how-
ever, seems to have been discovered in season,
and the Queen onlyevisits the afvresaid sanc-
tuary at present under the protection of a
regiment of cavalry,

Necro Barpanrtsa in TWaytr.—A_ special
telegram to the Y. Herald contirma the
report of the murder of Gencral Leon Montes,

and telling them stories and facts not the
least palpable to worldly people. She
was visited by a great many peeople,sone
of them eminently respectable, who vouch |
for many of the statements of her illness. |

The physician in attendance is positive;
as to her conditionafuring the whole time,
and had it not been for him, she would,
have been bivied alive —-Jadianapo:
ald,

a

THE SUFFERING IN THE SOUTH,

Tt would really seem as ifthe Southern

States were destined to share the fate of
Jamaica, only on a larger and more in-

tensificd seale, Froim an oflicial report
mide by General Gillem of the state of
i, itis clear that social
perity has gone forever.
halt the cotton crop ©) tedh
been ad, While the price has fallen
about a hall trom what it was last year
The consequence is that nine out of every
ten of the planters are ruined, and many
estates abandoned altogether, Lhe fre
men ire starving, and yet refuse tu wor
except on terms which cannot be granted,
They are under the impression that the
Jand is actually to be Qivided nmonz them,
and are content in th® meantime to live in
a great measure by stealing whatever they
ean lay hands on. In Louisianna thou-
sands of negroes are dying of actual star-
vation. The lands have been repeatedly
flooded, and the owners being no longer
able to compel lapor, and’ without the
means to pay for it, everything is going
to dgstruction.—In Georgia anatters are
still tvorse, for there the negroes believe
that the wkites have lowered the price of
eotton for the purpose of ruining them,and
though starving, are acting together in
gangs, and destroying property wherever
they can find an opportunity,

The sane appalling story of want, idle-
ness and violence, comes from Florida and
Arkansas. ‘The South is utterly ruined,
and while the planters in most cases have
lost everything, the freedmon are still
worse off. ‘They believed that the aboli-
tion of slavery meautitlso an end to servile
labor, and that they were to possess the
Jand and every comfort without the ne-
eessity of doing any work. ‘Tho sudden
eufranchisement of the blacks has been a
dire misfortune to themselves as well as
tothe country. But the thing kas been
dube, and the consequences must be en
dared. It is questionable whether cotton
growing inthe Southern States will not
pave to be abandoned. It-requires steady
and constant labor and large capital. But
the labor must .be negro Tabor, and the
negro, it has been found there us olse-

whore, will not work steadily unless under
compulsion, Such a state of things will
probably go on from bad to worse, No
Proudniun's Bureau can do much to mend
it, untess by pissing a law compelling
eyery man to work for a given number ot
hours a day, or to perform a given amount
of work for so much pay, or be subject to
punishment asa vagrant. But we ques-
tion if even thisis practicable, ‘The result
will thorefore be universal poverty,—the
abandonment of the land by the whites
Wieuerer thay cans While the wegro will}

lis Her- |

inthe dungeon atCape Haytien. — The original
report was bad enough: but, bad as it was it
left us in comparative ignorance of the actual
fucts of the case. The details as we now
have them are horrible in the extreme.
Kept without food for four days, dosed with
poison, smothered to the extent to which the
available strength could smother him, he is
only deprived of life at last by eated stabs
inthe skull with achisel, ‘This, however,
was notall ‘The brother of the murdered
inan, who hadip the meantime been captured,
was chained down to the bloody bed on which
lved of wickedness had been perpetrated.
only relieving feature in this barbaric
picture is the announced fact that the parents
of the brothers Montes have beca driven to
desperati Itis tobe borne in mind that
this barbarity has heen accomplished by offi-
cial commend. What is the lesson? Do we
require to state it? Were it not for the
especial benefit of our New Englund philan-
thropists we should ,be ashamed to do so.
This is a specimen of negro civilization; this
jis what the negro can do when left to govern
himself; this isan illustration before hand of
what is to be expected from negro supremacy
in the South. A word to the wise is nut lost.
Iyven the unwise sometimes learn. God save
the South from such masters. —.¥, VF. Llerald.

Inpixbixa Crisis is tun Sorti.—The
“La Crosse Democrat” ca Is the Houses of
Congress by the very elegant title of ‘the
Rump Hellat Washington,” and under that
heading gives its summaries of doings for
both branches. ‘Che same papertsays ** Vir-
giniais ripe fora Negro insurrection—a war
of races.” It then proceeds with a savagery
of tone almost appalling to us, whose fates
are happily enst under better auspices:
+ For tie blacks we cain have some pity, but
for the white scoundrels who have tucited
them to violence, only vengeance—spvedy
and sure—a punishment of the most extreme
character. Let them look to it! For the
black niggers, jusiice tempered with mercy ;
for their while all justice, but No sengy.
Mark them, one and all. When you hear a
man with a white facd advocating negro
equality, spot him; fix a mark upon hit so
that when the destroying angel of white su-
premacy sweeps over the land, he niay see
and mark his lawfal prey.”

The New York Tribune, commenting upon
{a letter from its correspondent in Walrussia,
says, ‘* The new territory, it appears, is not
a land flowing with milk and boney, though
under favorable circumstances itis capable
of supporting human life. Agriculture is not
its strong point. Cabbages have no heads,
turnips and potatoes no body, cauliflowers no
sweetness, and fruit trees no fruit. ‘Thgro is
plenty of timber, but one cannot get at it
owing to the natural obstacle to. transporte
tion. In summer thero is no dry weather
and in winter no seow for sledding. . . .
The greater part of Mr. Seward’s $7,200,000
in fact, seems to have been expended for}
Codfish.” Hopeful purchase, certainly,

Tho New York Z'ridune, referring to the
flood of crime and accident with which the
columns of newspapers have of late been

burdened, sayst—

“The telegraph wires bend under their
weight of woe; the old earth quivers with
throbs of aguny from the centre to the pole;
cities are shaken down, countries aro en-+
gulphel, fair domains are dvertlowed with
red hot lava; wife is arrayed against hus-
hand, mether agninetehild, son against vather; |

aheentomb is sacrificed on one railway, half
#8 many on another, and on still another the
idth of abair stands between a thousand
and sudden death, In social life, our news-
papers are smutched all ever with reports of
divorce and separation trials, of infidelity and
lisgrace, of gigantic crimes undertaken, half
What shill be

nplished or completed.
the end of these things?”

From Mexico,

New Yorn, Jan. 8th.—A City of Mexico
lutter of Dec. 17th, states that every device
has been putin operation to raise money—
the first great need of this Government. A
municipal tax law his just been issuad.
which it is expected will produce some thre:
millions of revenue. An excise law comes
into help. Also, putting a tax on every con-
veyance, Private carriages must yay 60
dollurs a year. Publie conveyance, 120 to
180. dollar awn Brokers, 456 dollar
down, According to their cliss bakeries 10¢
dollars. Guaimbling Saloons, a ne ity here.
450 dollars, and so forth.

Pather Fisher, the well known Confiden
and Confessor of Maximilian, has at last bec
setat liberty through the intercession of hi
friends, inclusting some Amer.cans.

Gorrespondence,

LETTER FROM BOSTON. -

Bosroy, Curisraas, 1867.

Dear Journal i—

Cunisraas is a great day in Boston,aun
in ull American” cities, Windows a
beautifully decorated, and posts and. pi
avs dined with loncly evergrecns in hone
of the birth of our Gresat> Master an
Teacher, Were it vot tor cold west winds
you would: suppose i is iidsumine
from boy fers and waggons oO
the strects rugning in every direction
‘Lheve is no winter here y Lat winds ar
cola and: people's hearts just cold
* Hard ties” is the word wherever yo:
goj hundreds are ont of eniployment, wh:
scarce Know how to face a hard winter
But not so hard kere asin New York.—.
few days ago a poor woman poisoned he
tour children and then attempted suicide
rather than face hard times, Vendors o
everything press you to come in and buy
that which is held up and praised for tha.
almighty doll, Yo my young Ishur
friends who have good homes,” my voice:
is, be content there where you. are sul
and out ol temptation, ‘Those who cour
here and are prudent may do well, ris:
and inake money; but if foolish and Jus:
they soon find the way that leads to ruin’
Those who wish good society and choic
company will lind sueh here ; soci¢ties ar
here of the very best description, to the
most of which students are invited free’
Lhe Young Men's Christian Association
is ® moral ornament to the city, with its
Reading Rooms, Lecture Rooms, and
Prayer Meetings. ‘There are excellent
temperance socicties here; Odd Fellows,
Templars, and Sons of Temperance, The
Divisions are A. 1, and by the way I must
tell you that temperance men, like the
fools, are not all dead yet. The sale of
tum is not legalised in this State, but the
PU Ls" at the late clection claim tu
have won a victory, and itis supposed rum
shops will soon be as open and common as
they ever Were. Last Sunday our popular
and teetotal preacher in mont Temple
toll us t+ thit the lawmakers feared the
people rather than God and the right, and
accordingly done wrong that gocd might
come—greenbacks into their poekets—that
there were meu in Boston who would stab
sweet temperance to the very heart, but
they couldivt do it—that a rumseller was
a soul-murderer and the devil's tool, and
he knew it too.” Ytis at present remark-
able how seldom a drunken person is scen
in the strects her Thave hitely been at
two Levees, Where I saw nota drop of any-
thing that would intoxigate. We all last
Priday evening enjoyed ourselves very
nicely at the Revere,” at the annual
Levee given by the Faculty of Harvard
University, The affair cost about $1800.
There were present about 8d protessors
and doctors, and about 400 students. Lhe
supper Was all that could be wished, At
thersand goblets, filled—
2 wine—but lemonade and pure
sparkling walter. ‘Vhe entertainment wound
up With Lousts, speeches, » and ended
by giving sist three cheers forthe Queen,
three for tie President. three for the F
ully, &e.. ke, Your Island you may
suppose Was fecbly represented on one
oceasion, the duty having fallen on yours
most humbly,

T will now lead my young friends to the
Hospitals, of which there are three, anne

lirmary and a Public Dispensary. The
are filled with pationts suffering

eto which humanity isheir, Lt
is enough lo make the stoutest heart weep,
When first seeing the sufferings which: are
endured here, Some improving, some
i ing, some sinking, some dying;
some With their novels and papers, some
at their prayer books, others at their bibles.
Lhave admired the excellent tracts laid
here by societies, und the sheets printed
in hinge type, with choice passages oi
Seriptare, and hung at the bedside of the
dying, Death often chads sufcitng here,
but convalescence oftenor. Patients here
are kindly treated and skilllully attended
by the very best physicians and surgeons—
wl are under good hygienic treataientand
everything kept scrupulously clean. Here
1 have met one poor tellow trom P. EL 1,
whu is no stranger to my home and yours

The sad results of the late cruel war are
yet to be seen in those hospitals. Mes
without arms and legs are here almost in
scores, Our inesns of instruction in’ the
medical art here are threctold, — trom
» by lectures, and best of all, at the
le. If we do not gain knowledge
tis our own fault.” Every facility
and privilege are here rendered by gen-
Uemen possessed of genuine kindness and
ability, The number of patients under
treatment and the probable expense at
tending each hospital, Lam unable to give
you; but you may form some idea trom
the fact that there are thirty nurses and
filteen servants besides assistants, in each
of those excellent institutions. In the
Marine Hospital at Chelsea, through which
Ip d to-day, there ie 110 poor in-
valids, chictly seamen, who seem to be
skillully attended to,

To our young men who intend studying
the medical proiession, (and [am proud
there ave so many, and that sunie at least
are distinguishing themselves), 1 would
say your requirements are fouriold—a love
for the protession—a love of study and
great perseverence—a thorough Huglish
edueation, aegood knowledge 1
fair knowledge of Greek and Freneh—and
last, oh! that it were least —a purse which
has uo bottom. But let those not seare
you. The profession is an honorable and
Important, though responsible one. Be
attentive to study and be bound to be edu-
cated, and commence business in’ an
honorable and legal manner, and scorn
quackery, :

Should a holiday again occur before the
term closes, yo mmiy expect to hear
from .

r

Yorrs, as before,

MACA,

IDE JOURNAL, TH

return ©

of Latin, oa,

URSDAY, JANU

ARY 2

a netiats teeesageesece sternite

3, 1868.

Sumnerside Journal.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1868.

No notice ean be taken of anonymous coin
munications. We must know the names and
addresses of our correspondents as a guaranty
of their good faith. We cannot undertike to
minunications that are not used,

ABYSSINIA.

NO. 11.

Ir appears that the present ruler of
this country became offended with Mr.
Cameron, who since 186] and at the time
of his imprisonment in 1864, was the
representative of Queen Victoria at the
Court of Abyssinia; and subsequently

ix others shared the same fate. We
iced not recapitulate the causes in which
wiginated the misunderstanding that
ed to the capture of Mr. Cameren, and
-he other gentlemen who, with some of
neir ladies also, have had to endure the
iardships of an inzarceration in the
wrison of a semi-civilized country. Suf-
ice it to add that the treatment which
‘hese prisoners have receivéd, combined
‘vith the gross insult cust upon the
jritish Empire, have aroused alike the
-nger, pride and sympathy of the British
sation, Various means have been re-
orted to to endeavor to affect -their
vlease by peaceable and friendly means,

Hof which have proved abortive ; and

ue ery of the captives being constantly
ecard in the distance, and their tale of
listress reiterated through the press, re-
rearsed in private, social and public
cssemblics, so continuously, that En-
slishmen have fiom the dead, as it were,
vn that distant land again heard Shake-
speare’s honest old councillor in agony
srying out;—

* All torment,trouble, wonder and anazement

Inhabits here: Some heavenly power guide

us

Out of this strange country!”
jo that the Government, as the exponent
f the nation, have replied to the eap-
ives substantially thus: ** Inthe absence
of aheavenly power to guide you out of
shat fearful country, and especially since
peaceful and friendly efforts have been
«availing, we have determined to en-
deayor to rescue you by the strength of
our arms, from the gresp of his Sable
Majesty, and ulso to forcibly remind
aim that British subjects cannot be,
abused with impunity by any foreign
power.” Abyssinia is to be taught that
they—

* Must be free or dic, who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake.’ ”

When war was determined upon by
the Government of Great Britain, much
analety was manifested respecting the
nature of the country against which war
had been proclaimed, and the best means
of reaching the enemy. therefore respecting this di,tant land may
be acceptable to our readers.

We shall briefly glance at the topo-
staphy of the country, which by the way
is very imperfectly known; but as the
wars of the last cighteen years have very
materially aided in extending our know-
ledge of countrics and localities, we
have no doubt but that such will also be
one result of the present war.

In our former article we stated that
this country was bounded on the east by
the Red Sea, and it would be but natural
to suppose that the rivers and streams
known to exist in Abyssinia would flow
towards the sea; but such is not the case;
and this fact may be noted as one of the
striking peculiarities of the country.—
The coast along the Red Sea is a low,
dry, sandy desert; and is, we believe,
one of the hottest places on the globe.
This low level plain extends inland for a
considerable distance, or until it reaches
the natural wall of the country, the pla-
teau, Which rises from 7,000 to 10,000
feet above the levelof thesea, Between
this plateau and the sea there is some
low swampy groand, with considerable
jungle, interspersed with fertile plots of
ground, and trom this region ascends a
malaria that is fatal to all mankind, al-
though a few wandering gypsies are to
be found in it. ‘The inland part of the
country is covered with hills and moun-
tains, some of which are 15,000 fect
high, with rich valleys, deep gorges and
the table land, or plateau referred to
already. ‘The country is well watered,
and produces two crops in the season.
There are a few rivers and lakes. ‘Two
of the former are described as very good,
the largest of which takes its rise near
the eleventh degree of north latitude,and
flowing west emptics itself into the Nile.
Some of the smaller streams run west
and others in a south-west direction—
through Machidas. Volcanic agency has
left its mark upon some parts of the
country. A large portion of Abyssinia
isa land of great fertility. The inhabi-
tants are represented as being lively and
intelligent, but for along time have been
surrounded on all sides by barbarians,
who have been continually crowding
upon it; and hence the inhabitants have
been compelled to live with arms iu their
hands, like Nehemiah, when building the
walls of Jerusalem.

Although this country is so near the
equator, yet Europeans who will do as
the Abyssinians do, find it a healthy
country to live in. As proof of this it is
said that Mansfield Parkins spent three
years in the country, ** without so much
as a fur to cover his head,’ only anoint-
ing it from time to time with butter,
and that he suffered no inconvenience,
not so much as a headache. If the
treasures which were brought to Jcrusa-
lem in the time of Solomon by the Queen
of Sheba were obtained in Abyssinia,
the country—which is by no means im-
probable—mnust also be rich in minerals.
But as reliable and valuable information
will doubtless be furnished to the world
by the correspondents of the press, who
have accompanied the expedition, it is
now unnecessary to give a more extend-
ed review of the country. We shall, no
doubt, have ample opportunities of doing
so before the close of the year.

They have a legend in Granada, that
old Father Adam paid a visit to our
world a few years ago, to look after his

geing on since he left it. When he
eame to Germany, he found schools, col-
leges «nd books, and all the people intent
on learning. Leaving Germany he went
tu France, when lo! the people were
dressed in a-style that was not pleasing
to our old friend. He found the Irench
**mad upon works of art and improve-
ment unknown 4o our great ancestor.”
Highly displeased with Frange, he goes
down to Spain,—when he positively
aflirmed that everything was as he left it.
That noimprovements had been effected,
and that in some places the country had
more of an antediluvian appearance than
when the Moors dwelt in it. We would
like if some equally wise old sage would
re-visit Abyssinia, and inform the world
of the difference between the Abyssinia
of B. C. 990 and the Abyssinia of A. D.
1868. In our next we shill glance at
the history of the present Emperor.

READING,

Tutsis pre-eminently the age of think-
ing. And the most modern improve-
ments of the printing press are only
equal to the task of alfor ling facilities for
the dissemination of the latest thought.
Poverty almost ceases to be an excuse
for not possessing a well chosen library ;
for books, periodicals, and papers of
every description have become so cheap,
by means of recent invention and a
minute division ef labor, that they are
accessible to every one from the rich to
the mendicant. ‘The most brilliant dis-
coveries in science and the choicest gems
of thought are daily served up to us at
astonishingly small costs.

Notwithstanding all these advantages

how many of us there are who scarcely
ever read, “Ifa man," says Lord Bacon,
* road little he had need of much cun-
ning,to seem to know what he does not.”
The necessity of reading rings from the
pulpit; the press proclaims it, and we
feel it in our own consciousness; yet in
the face of all this light, by a strange
perversity, we too often fritter away the
time that should be devoted to it, in
frivolous and unprofitable amusements.
But how many read who do not read
aright? We may read much and know
very litte. It is thinking makes what
we know to be ours. If a. man cat
voraciously when his digestive organs
are in an unhealthy state, he docs not re-
seive a corresponding amount of nowish-
ment; but what is worse, it acts as an
irritant to engender further disease. So
itis with mind; by simply reading every-
thing promiscuously, as.it may chance to
came in our way, we not only receive
very little benefit, but it has a tendency
to make the mind unsusceptible and
wavering. Every thing we read about
should be submitted to the touchstone
of reason. True, we read some things,
the validity of which we have neither the
opportunity nor ability to examine. But
the great amount of whut we do read,
we can and are in duty bound to test by
the operation of our intellect. We read
volumes through, and when done we do
not carry away one solitary idea—nothing
but a contused mass of heterogeneous
facts floating across our brain. On the
other hand, when a single chapter is
read which is well digested, we find that
something has been added to our stock of
knowledge, and that we have made the
experiences of others subservient to our
own individual necessities,
We are prone to attach a character of
sacredness and infallibility to all books
indiscriminately ; forgetful all the while
that the writers, in the great majority of
cases, were men liable to err like our-
selves; and forgetful too that we our-
selves possess minds which have been
kindled by the same Promethean spark
that prompted their utterances. Of
course—since in most cases the sphere
of the writer's observation is much wider
and his reasoning powers are more highly
cultivated than ours— when a doubt
arises, his opinions ought to be received
with due deference. ‘here are primary
and secondary planets, and each has its
influence in the great revolution, In
like manner among men,tbere are greater
and lesser lights, each haying his own
particular part to perform, We often
find in print, as elsewhere, opinions that
ure not based on truth, as well as those
which are incorrectly deduced from sound
principles. Nor is this to be wondered
at, even supposing it did not, arise from
ignorance, if we but reflect on the selfish-
ness of human nature. Bigotry, preju-
(lice, and interest have marshalled all the
arts of sophistry to warp truth from its
legitimate course, in order to serve their
urticular ends. In order then to com-
prehend the truth and detect error we
require to have a critical eye, as also an
intellect practiced in the habit of reason-
ing, and to be able to weigh facts and
trace them to first principles. Without
doing this we surrender our individuality,
and become the prating parrots of other
men’s ideas and thoughts—a destiny
which tho mind was evidently never in-
tended to fulfil. Facultiss with such
unbounded capacities and ennobling as-
pirations were certainly intended for
action. Ina word, mind is a noble in-
heritance possessed by every human
being, and with it we receive a royal
prerogative to think for ourselves.

Yourm is the time to acquire the habit
of thinking on what is read, the mind is
then plastic and easily takes direction.
Still we hold that there are no cases of
carelessness and inattention to what is
read so chronic that they cannot be
overcome by industry and _perseverence.
We believe that there is a sad defect in
our Zducational System in this respect.
After children have learned the mechan-
ical part of reading, they are too exclu-
sively kept studying subjects far beyond
their comprehension—and we might say
in many instances beyond that of the
teacher. In this way the mindis fetter-
ed, and becomes stereotyped into a mode
of inactivity and dependence; whereas
it should be very frequently practiced in
reading subjects which are short, fami-
liar and suggestive, affording an oppor-
tunity of tracing conclusions to their
premises, deducing new facts, and com-
paring theth with cther facts,-—which

affairs, and to seo hoy matters were

yhas the effect, not enly of making them’

think, but inspires them with a proper
confidence in their own intellectual
powers. When the mind is thus judi-
ciously trained in youth, as we advance
in years it will acquire an ease in digest-
ing what it reads. Then we have the
key which will unlock the hidden trea-
sures of books—the magnet which ‘*
point to the truth, through the labryn
of conflicting opinions and the fulse
glasses of equivocation. Weading will
become both a profit and a pleasure, in-
stead of dozing our long evenings away
in a vacuity of thought, we will be cata-
loguing facts from the intellectual expe-
rience of others ; which will not onlv be
adding to our fund of information, but
will incite us to work for ourselves in
the boundless ficld of ideas.

SUMMARY OF NEWS.

‘Tr late English papers present us with
no new topies of interest,” Their general
tone, however, is one of uneasiness, »
feeling which seems to be very general!
shared by the Continental Powers. M.
Peyrat, a French writer, considers that it
isa miserable year that has just come to
an end, and that it is probably a miserable
year that has just begun.

In France, business is everywhere slack.
Money seems to be imprisoned in the
Banks instead of being in circulation ; and
from Lyons, Rouen, and the other great
centres of industrial and’ manufactaring
activity are received the most distressing
reports,

Italy, humbled by the French Roman
Expedition is still in ferment, and threatens
the peace of other countries besides her
own, :

Uneasiness in certain cireles exist as to
the ¢ ns of Prussia in Germany and
Russiain the Kast, and all Europe pre
sent the spectacle of millions of men armed
to the teeth with the latest deadly inven-
tions of war. By their maintenance the
energies of the continental nations are
being exhausted, and their resources im-
poverished,

England,in spite of her immense moral
influence,is in agitation respecting the ab-
sorbing question of the day. Fenianism
is viewed by different minds in different

ways. The Right Lon. KE, Horsman, in
addressing his constituents, declares that

‘itis the centre of a great deal of English
instigation, which finds ready tools of
mischief in the Trish people.’

. President Johnson has called the atten-
tion of Congress to the subject of the pro-
tection of naturalized American: subjects
in foreign countries. Some of the mem-
bers of Congress have made it, as usnal
on foreign subj isis of a glorifi-
cation of ‘our gp gle.” and of har-
angues uguinst England, the violence of
ho has threatened great danger to—
vest buttons. We are not aware,
however, that the peril of anything else
is imminent, Barthquakes have occurred
in the state of New York, producing great
alarm to the inhabitants. A newspaper
correspondent in describing the first shock
says itis no exrggeration to say that the
unpression made was overwhehning, It
came in the dead of the night | The great
body of the people had no warning until
the mighty power was upon them, shak-
ing their houses as though struck with a
tornade, Connected with this were heard
fearful erashings and bellowings in’ the
bowels ofthe earth, such as one may feel
but not deseribe,

Recluse Island in Lake George has sunk
eighty-four feet below the water, The
physical upt uls in the north tind echo
in the political troubles of the South.
Black vs. White is the order of battle.
Many late disclosures show that political
demagogues while instilling into the ne
groes ideas which they are totally unpre-
pared to receive have been playing with
edged tools and firebrands, rendering the
question of Southern reconstruction more
dificult than ever,

Mexico is in am
Robbery and

dreadfal condition.
atssinwtion are the order
of the day. The chestis empty, and if
she offered cent per cent, Mexico could
not borrow a dollar, and ** the people”
ure not very likely to submit to taxation,
One of the finest countrivs on earth, it is
inhabited hy a people at once wretehed
and impationt of all wholesome authority.
The despotism of Russia or ‘Larkey is tar
better than the rule of lawlessness,

In the New Dominion matters have a
decidedly stormy aspect Nova Scotia is
surging agaiust the chain that binds her
to Canada. Canada with great good -
professes her willingness to ** let’
tr slide.” Should Nova Scotia *slide”
itis hard to say what the result will be,
Altogether the world isina dissatisfied
$ ue. ‘

The latest intelligence fromthe Abyssinian
Expedition, is down to Jan. 9th. Col. Mere-
weather says that bands of natives, supposed
to be hostile, were prowling around the n-
glish camp at Senate. In consequence of
this all the European troops stationed along
the line of march were ordered to join the
headquarter division at Senape. The Egy-
plians have not only mustered 3,000 fresh
troops at Massowah, but have actually sent
a message to Theodere warning him that if
he does not give up the captives they will jom
in the expedition, They are also going ta
plice ten frigutes at the disposal of the Rx-~
pedition. This is all very good, but it may
not do thein any good, as they may then find
themselves engaged in a national and religi-
ous wir, ad» the very name of an Egyptian is
ollensive in Abyssinia.

Ssvuse

Va; have been informed that the agent of
the London and Lancashire Fire Insurance
Company, for this Island, has notified those
who have insurance on their property in this
town, that he hus received instructions not ta
renew any Policy's out of Charlottetown, We
think this a very great injustice to the people
of Summerside, as it is but a short tino since
that they were called upon to subscribe to-
wards putting the fire engine, &e., in proper
order—a cull which wis generally responded
to, ‘That Company has never had but one loss
in Summerside, and yet itis the first place
that is to suffer. ‘There is or hus been avery
large amount of property insured in that office
by partics here, and for all their, money paid
in they now get nothing, but worse still, they
are compelled to go elsewhere and insure,
and pay all the expenses of poliey’s, &. 1¢
appears to us of very litte use for an indi-
vidaal to insure in such companies, as he is
liable at any time to be compelled to look out
for another office, What we want in Sum-
nierside ig a Company of our own, We be-
lieve there are plenty of gentlemen here who
have the capital and ability to form one. Who
will move in the matter?

Ra" Only part of the English Mail was
received here on Monday Inst. A mail bag
for Newfoundland was received at the Gene-
ral Post Office in Charlottetown, and it is
supposed that the missing bag for this [sland
went to Newfoundland,

wa The prices of Vessels Inthe Home
Market is very low, and itis thought it will
remain so for some time.

bar" We would direat the atte
Road Commissioner for Bamtierride ty Une
picce of road near Hall's lime kiln. It ia

very dangerous, vs a sleigh mi ,
over the bank, 6 ght easily slew