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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d5072f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55015 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55015) diff --git a/old/55015-0.txt b/old/55015-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c220426..0000000 --- a/old/55015-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1726 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 no. -23, September 25, 1858, by Stephen H. Branch - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 no. 23, September 25, 1858 - -Author: Stephen H. Branch - -Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55015] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRANCH'S ALLIGATOR, SEPT 25, 1858 *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - Transcriber Notes - - Obvious printer errors, typos and missing punctuation fixed. - Misspellings in the pupil’s speech in the Stephen and his Adult Pupil - story have been retained, as have archaic spellings and inconsistent - hyphenation. - The table of contents has been created and added by the transcriber. - A description of an illustration with no caption has been added. - Italics are represented by underscores surrounding the _italic text_. - Small capitals have been converted to ALL CAPS. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Early Boyhood and its Merry 1 - Pastimes. - - The Alligator Lives for Another 2 - Week. - - Stephen and his Adult Pupil. 3 - - Stephen H. Branch, in his Cell at 3 - Blackwell’s Island—A Mournful - Scene. - - Advertisements 4 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -[Illustration: STEPHEN H. BRANCH’S ALLIGATOR.] - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - Volume I.—No. 23. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1858. Price 2 Cents. - - - - - Early Boyhood and its Merry Pastimes. - - -I remember the woman’s school at four years old, and the merited -chastisement of the school marm; my desperate descent on the sugar bowl; -the military company of which I was commander; my annual cries in the -trundle bed at 12 o’clock and one second, A. M.: “I wish you merry -Christmas, Ma,—I wish you happy New Year, Pa,—now gim me cent;” with my -father’s: “Go to sleep, you young rascal, or I’ll come and spank you;” -the two cents I always got on the 4th of July, if I had been a good boy, -and the solitary penny if I hadn’t; the death of my mother of twins; the -copious tears of my father and Aunt Lucy; my grief at her sudden demise; -the country boarding school, and the blast of lightning that felled me -to the earth, while whittling on the summer green; my eyes soon open on -the glories of the lurid universe, and I scamper into the pretty -cottage, and bound into the arms of my aunt, who nearly smothers me with -affectionate embraces; the storm passes; a bow appears, with crimson -arrows, and lingers on the concave’s rosy verge, till Venus gleams -through the twilight leaves, when its gorgeous hues are vailed by the -revolving spheres, and it descends the dazzling west. - - Whose Archer follows the resplendent sun, - Before whose darts the stormy Furies run; - -the moon ascends the east in matchless splendor, and roams in tranquil -beauty through infinitude, spreading its snowy light on vale and mead, -that vie with lakes of liquid silver; my aunt lingers at my bed, while I -say my evening prayer, and invests my heart with sacred feelings; myself -and brother William, on our way to school, through a dreary wood, espy a -boy in a wagon, when I exclaim: “Why, Bill, there’s our brother Albert;” -Bill stares and says: “Steve, your perceptions are very foggy, and I -begin to think you aint got good sense;” I closely scan the boy, and -smile, but elicit no response, the little rogue riveting his bright blue -eyes on the vacant air; Bill passes on to school, with: “Steve, you are -raving mad, and I’m going to tell Aunt Freeman so;” when I address the -stranger thus: “Little boy, you look like my brother Albert, and this -horse and wagon resemble ours, and won’t you please to tell me if you -aint my brother Al, who lives far away from here, in a place called -Providence? I always dearly loved him, and I havn’t seen him for a long -time now, and I would like to see him very much; come, now, little boy, -aint you Ally Branch, and if you are, won’t you please to tell me so?” -Tears roll down his pale cheeks, followed by the sweetest smiles, (like -simultaneous rain and sunshine,) extending his arms, with: “How do you -do, dear brother Stevy;” I scream; dart into the wagon, and, placing my -arms around his neck, fondly kiss him. And then I made the woods ring -with my cries for Bill to return, and behold our dear brother, found so -mysteriously alone in the forest wild. Bill slowly returns; and I hear -the echo of a laugh, and see a man emerge from the monarch oaks, whom I -discern as father, whose playful stratagem blares brightly before my -enraptured vision. And with the velocity of light, I spring from the -wagon, and at a bound, am in the embraces of my adored father. The vail -slowly passes from the eyes of Bill, who stands like a statue in the dim -perspective, crying lustily over my triumphant conquest. We all shout -and wave our hands, and Willie bounds into Albert’s and father’s arms, -whose fervent kisses soon dispel his tears; when his crescent and -revolving eyes gently threaten to eclipse the sun and moon with -hilarious splendor; three happy brothers then rock the forest solitude -with merry vociferations, and run like deer, and sing like infant -Jubals, with sweet responses from congenial birds, prancing on the oaks’ -majestic branches. And with hearts of gladness, we spring like hounds -into the wagon, and return to Aunt Freeman’s, and that I regard as one -of the happiest days of my early boyhood. On the following morn, we -leave for Providence, which I scarcely reach, ere our yard is a camp of -boys, eager to embrace their favorite commander, after his long -captivity in the desert wilds of Woodstock; myself and Albert soon go to -another country school; we board with a minister who has a large family, -and a small salary, which was tardily and scantily paid with very poor -provisions; myself and Al don’t like the fare; has fried pork too often -for breakfast, and pork and beans for dinner, with a cold cut of pork -and beans at nightfall; and we enter our solemn protest against so much -fried hog, and so many baked beans; we protest, too, against his not -fastening the doors and windows nights, as father does at home; we hear -strange noises nights, while abed; and respectfully implore him to put -locks on the doors, and nails in the windows, who refuses, and says, -that good boys are never afraid of robbers or assassins; we still hear -dreadful sounds at midnight; and bury ourselves, head and all, in the -bed clothes; sweat terribly, and nearly smother; grow pale; lose flesh; -get very weak; have cold night sweats; finally despair, and threaten to -leave for home; write long letters to father, full of bad writing and -spelling, who doesn’t answer them, because he can’t read them; we start -for Providence; our sacred host pursues us on a cadaverous horse, whose -ribs rattle, and captures us in the haunted woods, where, in old times, -a man was murdered, and two lovers hung themselves, because their -parents wouldn’t let them marry; I and Al were hurrying through this -dreadful wood, when old cadaverous and the parson pounce upon us, who -threatens to whip us if we don’t return, and cuts a switch for the -purpose; his eyes roll terribly, and, as I once heard he was slightly -insane at times, and, fearing he might murder me, I gave the wink to Al, -and we concluded to return, very gently shaking our heads and fists, -with threats of telling our father all about it some day, who was a -Justice of the Peace, and could lock up any body, and have them hung -beside; to silence our unceasing clamors, the parson gets some cheap -second-hand locks, and rusty nails, fastens the doors and windows -nights, and gives us fried liver twice a week for breakfast, and lets -pork and beans slide awhile, with very tender veal instead; don’t hear -strange sounds at night any more; sleep very soundly; don’t hear the -cheerless midnight winds as of yore; get fat as butter; are very -contented; Fourth of July close at hand; father comes after us; shed -tears of joy, and run and jump like wild cats, and get home alive once -more from a country boarding school; go to a party on the night of our -arrival; Oscar Rivulet and Clara Violet are there; at the party’s close, -I can’t find my hat, and while in its vigorous pursuit, Oscar takes the -arm of Clara, when I step up and whisper in his ear, that I will -chastise him the very next day for cutting me out; Oscar and Clara -depart; I find my hat in the oven, where Oscar doubtless put it, and -begin to cry with rage; to console me, my aunt places the arm of Flora -Rosebud in mine, who was a dashing little belle, with whom I slowly -ramble towards her home beneath a brilliant sky; soon after I bid Flora -good night, at her father’s door, a dark cloud rapidly arose and -obscured the moon, and I became afraid, and ran fleetly home, expecting -to meet an assassin at every corner’s turn, but when I heard the -cheerful watchman’s cry of “half-past eight o’clock, and all’s well,” -and beheld his noble form in the distance, my fears are tranquilized, -and I walk as erect and firm as the hero of many battles, and loudly -boast of my courage, after I get snugly in the trundle bed with Albert, -the shield of my father’s voice above me, to fortify my pretended valor. -On the following day, my step-mother struck me on the head with a jacket -with brass buttons, for my impudence at dinner in my father’s absence, -because she wouldn’t give me more boiled onions, of which I was very -fond; the blood flowed freely, and she was terrified lest I would bleed -to death, and she be hung; she dressed the wounds most tenderly, and -gave me plenty of onions and sugar, and warmly coaxed me not to tell -father when he came to tea, lest he would gently chide her for her -laceration of the skull of the prolific brain of the darling son who -bore his own father’s promising name of Stephen; and for many days she -gave me candy and peanuts, and gave me so many onions that I have -loathed them since; she even poulticed my lacerated head with boiled -onions, which I smell to this day; I had the ear-ache, and she even put -a small roast onion in my ear to check the pain; I once passed through -Weathersfield, (where onions are as thick as leaves in the Vale of -Vallambrosa,) whose atmosphere caused me to fertilize its streets with -bile; my step-mother finally stops my supplies of sweetmeats, and I -threaten to tell my father of her violent blow, and show him my scars, -when she surrendered, and gave me sweet things for a long period; and -she saved me many a whipping from my father, when I was mischievous, -lest I would tell and show the relics of her trouncing, which gave me a -boundless latitude for pranks until the scars all passed away; at this -time, my dog Watch was drowned, but he rose the ninth day, and I buried -him at the foot of my father’s garden, with funeral honors, a -neighboring dog, in traces, bearing his precious body to the grave, over -which I placed turf and stones in memory of a dog I dearly loved; after -the funeral, Cornelius Snow, nicknamed Flop, called me names, and I told -my father that “Flop Snow had called me names, and I meant to lick him -for it,” when my father effected a reconciliation, by allowing Cornelius -to call me Steve as long as I called him Flop. He had long been at the -head of my class, at school, and I had never been at the head, which -mortified my father, who told me if I would get above Flop through good -spelling, he would give me a sixpence; I tried long and hard, but I -couldn’t do it; so, on a very stormy day, while myself and Flop were the -only boys of our spelling class at school, I told him that if he would -make a mistake in spelling, and let me keep at the head until school was -over, I would give him three cents; Flop consented, and broke down on -beef, which he spelled _b-e-a-p-h-f-e_, for which the teacher boxed his -ears, and made him see ten thousand sparkling stars; I got sixpence from -my father, and gave Flop half of it; there was a full class the next -day, and down I went to the foot, my usual place; my father learned of -my collusion with Flop, and gave me a tremendous whipping; the next day -I went several miles down Providence river, in a canoe with Elias Smith -and Joseph Fuller, and was gone four days, and all the town was terribly -excited lest we were lost; but Mr. Proud, a neighbor, of whose peaches -and melons I was very fond, stuck to it like beeswax, that I would never -be drowned, while hemp grew in Kentucky; the day after my return, my -step-mother whips Albert for stealing a small lump of sugar, at about -11, A. M.; father usually came to dinner at 12, M.; Ally cried for a -long time; but he began to lull, and I was afraid he wouldn’t hold out -until father got home; so, I got Ally down cellar, and pinched him, and -pulled his hair, to make him keep it up, until father got home; it being -near twelve o’clock, and my step-mother knowing my influence over Ally, -told me if I would pacify him before father came to dinner, she would -give me as much sugar as I wanted for a whole week; I accepted the -bribe,—but Al overheard us, and declared that he would cry like thunder, -until father came, if I didn’t give him half the sugar; we finally -compromised, by allowing Ally a quarter of all the lumps I got; a few -days after, while returning from a Saturday excursion down the river, my -brother Bill cut up so, that the boat capsized, in very deep water, a -short distance from the shore; Jim Baker and myself got on the bottom of -the boat, while Bill’s feet and head were entangled in the ropes and -sail; Sam Thurber and others swam to the shore; Jim Baker and myself -couldn’t swim, and we expected to be lost; and we bellowed murder like -fury; amid this awful scene, the owner of the boat came down the shore, -and cried: “Pay for that boat, you rascals, pay for that boat;” he had -scarcely breathed these brutal words, when down went Jim Baker and -myself to the river’s bed; I rose to the surface first, and went down -again, when Jim grabbed my leg, and we came up together, and a noble -sailor seized and bore us to the shore, where we were put in barrels, -and pints of water squeezed out of us; Jim and myself open our dewy -eyes, shake hands, and walk home arm in arm, with the sailor behind, -thrashing the boat proprietor for demanding pay, instead of coming to -our rescue, whose unparalleled inhumanity the gallant tar couldn’t -tolerate. I went to bed, and had a horrid night-mare, and dreamed of -sharks and whales. On the day after the boat calamity of Jim Baker and -myself on Providence river, I arose with the glorious sun, ate a spare -repast, and went to school. My stomach yet complained of salt water, and -my head and books were at rapiers’ points. The teacher, SHAW, vainly -chides me for my indolence, and summons me before him, and demands my -spelling-book, and gives me _genuine_, which I spell “_gen-ner-wine_.” -The school is convulsed in the wildest screams. Shaw seizes his -lignumvitae ruler, darts through the aisles, rolls his big gray eyes, -and bangs the desks until the dust rises into clouds, when the mirthful -tumult is hushed into the silence of a tomb, and he bids me take my -seat, with furious cuffs of both ears. My brother Bill had been -snickering in his hat, and sleeve, and handkerchief, until he had -saturated them all with his hilarious tears, and, as I passed him on my -way to my seat, he burst into a _genuine_ Branch laugh, and all again -was chaos. The scholars were more uproarious than before, and Shaw rages -furiously, and calls up Bill, when all is silent terror, and every eye -is riveted on its book. Shaw demands Bill to extend his right hand, -which he declines to do, because he has a felon, and tender warts all -over his knuckles. Shaw then commands him to hold up his left hand, and -Bill obeys, when Shaw’s eyes flash sparks of fire, his cheeks are -deathly pale, and his ferule descends with tremendous violence - - On the vacant air, - As Bill’s hand wan’t there! - -The scholars roar again, and clap their little hands, and stamp their -feet in the wildest ecstacy, when Shaw bellows like a rabid bull, and -gesticulates fatality to the rebellious scholars, whose eyes fall -quickly on their books, and all violently move their pallid lips, with -pretense of study, while a terrible revenge rankles in their hearts, for -Shaw’s cruel treatment of Bill, who has so many warts and a felon, with -salt water still gurgling in his ocean belly. At Shaw’s wrathful behest, -Bill again raises his trembling hand, and keeps his eye fastened on -Shaw’s; and as the ruler nears his palm, he dodges, when Shaw flies to -his scholastic throne for his cow-skin, and descends his ramparts with -the pomposity of a king, calmly surveying his juvenile and affrighted -subjects, and directs Bill to remove his jacket, who firmly declines. -Shaw seizes him, and Bill cries murder; the girls weep and faint, and -water is sprinkled on their cheeks and foreheads; the boys shake their -fists, and dare each other to rush to Bill’s rescue, but Shaw threatens -them with utter annihilation if they interfere, and the belligerent and -affrighted boys leave poor Bill to his unhappy fate.—Fortunately for -Bill, Shaw is short, and of very slender mould. Bill is stout, knows -well the physical weakness of his adversary, and proves himself fully -equal to the awful crisis before him. For, while Shaw strives to get -Bill across his knees to switch and spank him, Bill, by a sudden and -very elastic movement, gets between, and coils himself, like a snake, -around Shaw’s legs, and pinches, and bites, and tears his pants, and -finally trips him, and down they go, with Bill on Shaw, and with both -hands so firmly and desperately clenched in Shaw’s white cravat, as to -make his tongue protrude. The girls faintly titter, while the stoutest -and bravest boys bang their desks, and wildly shout with joy. The -panting combatants spring to the floor, and, like two roosters, have a -moment’s respite; Shaw is pale, and trembles with shame, and relents, -and in feeble and broken accents, directs Bill to take his seat; the -silence of a Capulet pervades the school, when my tremendous horse laugh -breaks the calm; the scholars scream again with frantic contortions; -Shaw’s eyes roll like a demon’s, and his voice rises high above the -universal clamor, which slowly subsides, and all is still again; Shaw -then comes on tiptoe to my desk, and grabs and drags me to the aisle, -with one hand clutched in my throat, and the other in my long hair, when -I grab him in a tender spot, and make him squeal; and so severe and -unrelenting is my grasp, that he gladly gives freedom to my throat and -hair, and implores, in tones of excruciating agony, to release my hands. -I slowly do so, when he re-seizes me, and, dragging me several feet by -my hair, kicks away the scuttle, and casts me headlong beneath the -schoolhouse, closing the scuttle over me; I can hardly sit upright in my -new abode; all is darkness; I smell the awful perfume of a dead skunk; -little mice squeal, and run over me, and nibble at my mouth and nose, -and big and hungry rats approach, and violently attack me, which I keep -at bay with my feet and hands, and hideous yells, and they finally -scamper to their holes, while a myriad of mice remain to torment me; I -chew tobacco, to drown my abject sorrow; it is the first cud that ever -graced my mouth; I cover it with the fragment of a newspaper, to prevent -my giddy exhiliration through a too strong taste of tobacco; I soon got -deathly sick, and thump and scream for Shaw to let me out, who heeds not -my piteous cries; I am desperate, and resting my hands and feet on the -ground, I get an irresistible purchase, and with a mighty movement of my -back, I burst the scuttle with a tremendous crash, and dart from my -narrow and dreary cavern into the schoolroom, and run down the aisle, -vomiting at every step; the scholars are nearly gone; as I approach the -door, Shaw grabs me, when I belch the purest bile plump in his face, -which, of course, was purely accidental; Shaw is blinded with tobacco -bile, and wipes his cheeks, and nose, and mouth, and eyes, and commands -me to go to his desk; I refuse; he then expostulates, and breathes kind -words, which allay my anger, and check the flow of tobacco and salt -water bile; I go to his desk; he dismisses the few scholars that remain, -save my weeping brother Bill, curled in the corner; Shaw laments the sad -occurrence; hopes we will be better boys, and permits us to go home; on -our arrival, father is at tea, listening to brother Albert’s version of -the story; Bill and myself seat ourselves at table, when father directs -each to give his melancholy narrative; Bill is hungry, and slowly -begins, and lacks vivacity, and the impatient father turns to me for the -rapid and vivid analysis of the horrid scholastic anarchy and rencontre -then flying on exaggeration’s wide-spread wings, and distracting the -peaceful firesides of Providence; I swallow the delicious food already -in my mouth; cleanse my throat with a prolonged swallow of commingled -tea and sugar, and tell my story in a nervous strain; my father’s eyes -are large, and fixed on mine, throughout my exciting narrative, at whose -close, he gets his hat and cane and autumnal mantle, and bids myself and -Bill to follow him; we penetrate the pitchy darkness, and after varied -street meanderings in the turbulent and piercing evening winds, we -ascend the steps, and tap at the door of Shaw; we enter his pale -presence, who is extremely courteous to father, who is a member of the -Visiting School Committee, and invested with power of a teacher’s -dismissal, which Shaw now fears; father opens his deadly batteries, and -Shaw, perceiving no possible escape, pleads extenuation for the violent -temper that nature gave him; spoke of William as a very good and -studious boy, (a truth,) and of Stephen as a meritorious and -enthusiastic youth, who dearly loved his books, (a lie,) and deeply -regretted that his heated passion led him to the chastisement of -William, and the incarceration of Stephen; and declared in tones of warm -sincerity, that if father would forgive him, he would never whip nor -imprison us again, but lead us up the hill of science through gentle and -persuasive means; father pities and admires his humility, and, rising to -depart, directs Shaw to inform him every Friday by letter, how many days -William and Stephen have played the truant during the week, and with -what facility we recite our lessons, and what our general conduct is; -Shaw’s eyes flash joy at these delightful and magnanimous behests, while -the eyes of Bill and myself flash guilt and fury at Shaw’s apparent -conquest, because all our future sport is spoiled, and mine, especially, -as I played truant about twice a week, and Bill once a month; and -because I seldom got my lessons well; Shaw and father extend their -hands, and shake a warm good night: and while they linger at the outer -door in friendly conversation, I slyly crawl through father’s legs, to -get into the street as soon as possible, and away from Shaw’s victorious -presence; the last shake of hands transpire between father and Shaw, who -slowly closes the door with a beatific smile; father, myself, and Bill -muffle ourselves in our fervent garments; it snows and blows very hard; -and, as we walk slowly homeward against the snow and wind, father -delivers an affectionate and mournful lecture, gently chiding us for the -trouble we had caused him, and the rapid increase of his snowy locks; -kindly warning us that we were constantly exposed to the sad fate of -orphans, our tender mother being already gone forever; and with a -trembling voice implored us to be good boys, to study hard, to be kind -and obedient to Mr. Shaw, to cultivate manly virtues, and strive to -become intellectual giants, and the pillars of our country, in peace or -war, after the fathers of his generation had passed from the field of -action. We both wept bitterly, and besought our dear and indulgent -father to forgive the past, with assurances of our efforts to please him -and our teacher in the future. We reach home, and father kindles a -crackling, hickory fire, and gives us cider and walnuts, and tells us -pretty stories, and puts on extra bed clothes, because the night is so -piercing cold, and tucks our bed at the sides, to keep out the biting -air, and then directs us to clasp and raise our little hands to God, and -say after him our evening prayer of - - “Now I lay me down to sleep, - I pray the Lord my soul to keep, - If I should die before I wake, - I pray the Lord my soul to take;” - -and then gives us a parting kiss, and pats our little foreheads, and -breathes sweet tones of affection until he passes from our view. Bill -and myself make good resolves for the future, and breathe a fond “good -night!” and then embrace the tranquil slumber and innocent dreams of -early boyhood. - - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - Office—114 Nassau Street - - ------------------------------------------------------ - - THE ALLIGATOR. - - ------------------------------------------------------ - - New York, Saturday, September 25, 1858. - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - The Alligator Lives for Another Week. - - -The Ladies have saved the ALLIGATOR for six days more, in which God made -the gorgeous realms of infinitude! Last week, I proclaimed that unless -advance subscribers or patriots came to the rescue of the wounded and -bleeding ALLIGATOR, he must soon expire amid the tumultuous exultations -of his proscriptive adversaries. The gentlemen responded in companies, -but the ladies in battalions, and soothed and rescued the poor ALLIGATOR -from the jaws of immediate death.[1] Without the sympathy of woman, man -soon droops, and totters, and expires. Woman is the prolific source of -all that glorifies the cottages, and mansions, and palaces of the globe. -And her benevolence ameliorates the poor, and oppressed, and -disconsolate in every region of the earth. From Eve to Mary, the mother -of Washington, the history of woman is a brilliant constellation. -Without the pure and patriotic Mary, there would have been no -Washington,—and without Washington, the Americans would have had no -country, and the oppressed of all lands no asylum of liberty and -prosperity. In the sacred bosom of her family, woman is like the queen -of night amid the pretty stars. In our infant years, she nourishes, and -shields, and cheers us in our precarious journey to maturer years. She -imparts the first kiss, and moulds the first prayer, and is prouder of -her offspring than a queen of her throne. As the child buds, and blooms, -and blossoms, and ascends the hill of moral and scholastic science, she -watches every pace with breathless solicitude. And in penury or -affluence, in bondage or freedom, in power or on the scaffold, she -clings with intense affection to the adored objects of her creation. -Every family is a dominion. The father is a king, and the mother a -queen, and the children their subjects. The same laws govern a family as -a kingdom. Judicious penalties follow disobedience, and a good mother -imbues the heart and mind of her offspring with humanity and wisdom that -govern the world. And over all presides a Being of beneficence and -ubiquity, who wields the destinies of a Universe. Woman, under God, is -the source of all that cheers and ennobles man in his weary pilgrimage -from the cradle to the grave, and to her sympathies am I greatly -indebted for my recent liberation from captivity and the partial -resurrection of my declining fortunes. God bless her, then, and in my -sacred orisons and soliloquies, on land or ocean, I will ever cherish -her with those grateful emotions that I inherited from the genial heart -of my departed mother. - -Footnote 1: - - If the ALLIGATOR dies, advance subscriptions will immediately be - returned to my generous patrons, with my fervent wishes for their - prosperity. - - ------------------------------------ - - -WILLIAM MACRAE is the only person authorised to collect subscriptions -for the “_Alligator_.” And here is his likeness, that when he calls to -solicit subscribers, all may know him by a comparison of this accurate -engraving with his living face. My Office is at No. 114 Nassau street, -second story, front room, where advance subscriptions will also be most -gratefully received. - - STEPHEN H. BRANCH. - -[Illustration: William Macrae] - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - -The tomb of Franklin—if a palm flag-stone with the earth can be so -called—is concealed from the public view by a venerable brick wall at -the corner of Fifth and Mulberry streets, Philadelphia. The remains of -the lightning philosopher are deposited there in the old burial ground -belonging to Christ Church. An appropriate monument has been -accidentally reared above them, in the shape of a telegraphic post, and -the lightning is at constant play over, if not under the eye of the man -who first chained it to the earth. - - - - - Stephen and his Adult Pupil. - - - THE FIRST LESSON. - -_Stephen._—What do you first wish to learn? - -_Pupil._—I desire first to review my figures. - -_S._—How far have you cyphered? - -_P._—I went through the book several times, when I was a boy. - -_S._—Whose Arithmetic did you study? - -_P._—Mr. Dollbay’s. - -_S._—Daboll’s, I suppose, you mean. - -_P._—Ah, yes, it was Daboll’s; and I remember him very well. He was a -fine man, and understood figures very well. - -_S._—Then you went through his book several times? - -_P._—O yes, I can take my oath of that. - -_S._—How much is twice nothing? - -_P._—That is two, of course. - -_S._—How much is nothing times two? - -_P._—That is two. - -_S._—How much is one-half times one? - -_P._—One. - -_S._—How much is four and a-half times four and a-half? - -_P._ (scratching his head)—That must be about thirteen. - -_S._—How much is three-quarters times five-eights? - -_P._—I never saw that in Daboll, and to be candid, Mr. Branch, I have -long been accustomed to rush of blood to the head, and I had a slight -rush just now, and I guess I won’t go any farther in figures to-day; but -I would like to renew my Grammar studies. - -_S._—Very well: whose Grammar did you study in boyhood? - -_P._—Mr. Murphy’s. - -_S._—I presume you mean Lindley Murray’s? - -_P._—Ah, yes, it was Murray’s, and he once dined at my father’s. - -_S._—As it is absolutely essential to understand spelling, before -Grammar, I will first examine you in a few words, before we embark in -Grammar. Can you spell well, sir? - -_P._—Yes; and I hope you don’t mean to insult me with such a question. - -_S._—Certainly not. Spell Grammar? - -_P._—Gramer. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—Gramar. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—How do yau spell it, then? - -_S._—Grammar. - -_P._—That’s the way I spelt it. - -_S._—No, sir. - -_P._—If I didd’t, I intended to. - -_S._—That may be. Spell sloop? - -_P._—Slupe. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—That’s the way old Captain Tallman spelt it, when I was a boy. - -_S._—It is spelt sloop in these days. - -_P._—Ah, yes, that’s correct, I remember. - -_S._—Spell dough? - -_P._—Doe. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—My grandmother used to spell it so. - -_S._—It is spelt dough. - -_S._—Spell God? - -_P._—Gorde. - -_S._—No. - -_P._ (is silent for some seconds, and grows pale, and sweats -profusely)—Merciful Heaven! And do you say Gorde is incorrect? - -_S._—I do. It is spelt God. - -_P._—Ah, yes, I was mistaken. That’s the way I have always spelt it. - -_S._—Spell scholar? - -_P._—Skoller. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—Skollar. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—That’s the way I always spelt it, and I’ll bet a dollar that’s the -way to spell it. - -_S._—That’s a bet. - -_P._—How shall we decide it? - -_S._—Have you got a dictionary? - -_P._—Yes. (Examines it.) Well, I declare, you have won the dollar. What -a curious way to spell scholar, to put _ch_ for _k_. Mr. Branch: who -invented language? - -_S._—The Egyptians. - -_P._—What old fools they must have been? - -_S._—Those Egyptians who discovered the alphabet, were the wisest -linguists of the human race. And those Arabians who discovered the -digits, were the profoundest mathematicians. And, as you can neither -spell nor cypher well, I advise you to defer your arithmetic and grammar -lessons until you learn orthography. - -_P._—I don’t know what you mean by linguist, nor by digits. And what on -earth do you mean by orthography? - -_S._—Orthography means spelling. - -_P._—Ah, yes, I thought that was it. Now, Mr. Branch, I am in public -life, as you know, and I am very anxious to make a good speech and write -a good letter; and, in order to do that, I must understand Grammar. And -I think I can spell well enough to study Grammar, Mr. Branch. You have -only examined me in a few words, and because I slightly broke down on -them, you must not suppose that I can’t spell well enough to study -Grammar. Just try me in a few more words. - -_S._—Spell alderman? - -_P._—Oldermon. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—Olldermone. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—How, then? - -_S._—Alderman. - -_P._—Ah, yes. That’s the way I was just agoing to spell it. - -_S._—Spell Common Council? - -_P._—Komon Kounsil. - -_S._—No, sir. It is spelt Common Council. - -_P._—Is it possible? - -_S._—Yes. And now spell municipal? - -_P._—Dam if I don’t give that up; for, although I have been a member of -the municiple government, I nover could spell that awful word without -looking at the dictionary two or three times; and it always took me a -mighty long time to find municiple, even in the dictionary. Now, do try -me on some easier word than that,—won’t you, Mr. Branch? - -_S._—Spell Mayor? - -_P._—Mare. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—How, then? - -_S._—Mayor. - -_P._—Ah, yes,—I forgot. That’s it exactly. - -_S._—Spell contracts? - -_P._—I can spell that fast enough. Kontrax. - -_S._—No. - -_P._—Kontracks. - -_S._—No. It is spelt contracts. - -_P._—I begin to think my memory is getting bad, for I once could spell -all these words. And I have had so many contracts from the Corporation, -and have written that word so often, that I am sure I used to spell it -correctly. Now give me one more easy word, and if I break down, dam if I -don’t surrender. - -_S._—Spell Cable? - -_P._—I have got a few shares in that precious stock, and I’ll bet $5 I -can spell it correctly. - -_S._—Done. - -_P._—Kabell. - -_S._—No. It is spelt cable. - -_P._—There’s a V. And now, although I have spelt several words -incorrectly, yet, as I am growing old, I desire to learn as fast as -possible; and I want you to give me grammar lessons and teach me -spelling at the same time. And if you will learn me very fast, I will -let you have one share in the Atlantic Cable, for your instructions. - -_S._—I would rather have the cash, as I cannot believe that a cord about -the circumference of my thumb can permanently connect the hemispheres. - -_P._—Very well, sir. I have perfect confidence in the Cable enterprise, -and I don’t care about parting with my stock. So I will pay you in cash -for your tuition. Now please give me a lesson in grammar. - -_S._—Well, I will strive to gratify you,—although I again assure you, -that orthography is the basis of grammar, and we shall encounter ruinous -obstacles in the construction of the grammatical pyramid, in the absence -of orthography and orthœpy. - -_P._—For the land’s sake, what is the meaning of the last word? - -_S._—Orthœpy means pronunciation. - -_P._—How queer your jaw opens and closes, when you pronounce that -strange word. - -_S._—I suppose so. I will now give you the first lesson in grammar. - -_P._—Let me first take a good stiff horn of brandy to brace my nerves. -(Drinks.) Now, sir, I am ready for Grammar, which, I repeat, I studied -when a boy; and I only desire to review what I know already. - -_S._—How many parts of speech are there? - -_P._—What do you mean by that? - -_S._—I mean, into how many parts of speech is language divided? - -_P._—Well, by golly, I don’t know exactly,—but, from the immense number -of words in the Bible, and in all the books at the Harpers, and in the -Historical Society, and in all the newspapers, I should think there must -be, at the lowest calculation, about five hundred million parts of -speech. - -_S._—There are only nine parts of speech. - -_P._—I begin to think you are crazy; for, do you think you can humbug me -by saying that there are only nine different words, or parts of speech, -in the English language? I shall consider it to be my duty to have you -put in the Lunatic Asylum, if you talk in that way. - -_S._—I still assert that there are only nine parts of speech, which are: -a noun, article, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, -conjunction, and interjection. - -_P._—Ah, yes, I recollect. - -_S._—Well, what part of speech is iron? - -_P._—As near as I can recollect, iron is the seventh, and it may -possibly be the ninth part of speech. - -_S._—No, sir,—it is one of the nine parts of speech I just mentioned. - -_P._—Ah, yes, excuse me,—I understand. Well, iron must be a conjunction, -because it can be heated and spliced. - -_S._—Iron is a noun. - -_P._—Ah, yes, I recollect perfectly well that iron is a noun, and I am -surprised that I did not remember it, as I have long dealt in fron, and -know all about it. - -_S._—That will do for to-day, and I will resume your grammar lessons -to-morrow. Good day, sir. - -_P._—Good day. I am much pleased wite my progress in grammar, and I will -see you again to-morrow with much pleasure. Good day, sir. - - [_Exeunt_, - - - - - Stephen H. Branch, in his Cell at Blackwell’s Island—A Mournful Scene. - - - _A lovely Family, at the iron door, peeping through its small - perforations._ - -_The Father._—What is your name, sir? - -_Stephen._—My name is Branch. - -_Father._—For what are you confined? - -_Stephen._—For an alleged libel. - -_Father._—On whom? - -_Stephen._—On Mayor Daniel F. Tiemann, Simeon Draper, and Isaac Bell, -Jr. - -_Father._—What is the period of your imprisonment? - -_Stephen._—One year. I think I have seen you before. What is your name, -sir? - -_Father._—H——d. - -_Stephen._—Where do you reside? - -_Father._—In Charleston, South Carolina. - -_Stephen._—Ah! The dearest associations of my life are connected with -two students bearing your name, who were from Charleston. - -_Father._—My wife and children: I think the keeper has directed us to -the Lunatic Asylum, instead of the abode of convicts. Let us go and ask -the keeper to show us to the prison. - -_Stephen._—Stop, sir. I now most positively discern the relics of your -early features. Were you a student at Cambridge in 1835? - -_Father._—I was. - -_Stephen._—And your brother also, who was rescued from a watery grave in -Boston Harbor? - -_Father_ (_leans against the iron door, and his frame trembles, and his -face assumes a deathly palor_).—God of Heaven! And are you the son of -Judge Stephen Branch, of Providence, Rhode Island? - -_Stephen._—I am, sir. - -_Father_ (_wiping sweat from his forehead and tears from his -cheeks_).—Dear Stephen: Give me your hand, after our long separation. -Alas! my poor brother is dead, whose life you saved in that dreadful -squall, in Boston Harbor, twenty-three years ago. (_All weep, and his -eldest daughter sobs aloud._) - -_Stephen._—Where and when did your noble brother die? - -_Father._—In Switzerland, ten years since; and in his last days he spoke -most kindly of you. - -_His Wife_ (_in profuse tears_).—Have you a wife, Mr. Branch? - -_Stephen._—Neither wife, nor child, nor parents, nor hardly a relative -on earth. And I am glad they have gone down to their happy graves. And I -almost wish that I was reposing by their side. The earth is no place for -me, nor for those who expose the licentious officials and plundering -monsters of this age, who allure spotless females into the horrors of -prostitution, and drive the friendless masses into cellars and attics -and crowded and pestilential habitations, and into the inclement -atmosphere. - -_Wife._—But why rejoice over the eternal departure of nearly all your -kindred? - -_Stephen._—Because it would have blighted their health and fondest hopes -to have beheld me in a felon’s dungeon. - -_Wife._—But you have committed no crime? - -_Stephen._—I could not do that. And I am in prison, because I have -exposed the crimes, and resisted the gilded bribes of official -plunderers for a dozen years, and utterly refused to join them in their -various deeds of infamy. I could have been affluent, and had my liberty, -if I had joined the public thieves, and shared their plunder. And if my -parents were alive, although they would rejoice at my exposure of -vicious public men, yet they would weep over the cruelty of those who -consigned me to this dungeon, without an honorable trial, and rudely -thrust me into the chain-gang of the quarries, and even yearn for my -life. - -_Wife._—Yours seems a hard fate? - -_Stephen._—Yes; mine is indeed a mournful destiny. - -_Her Eldest Daughter_ (_whose lovely eyes gleam with tears_).—I weep -over your misfortunes. I have often heard my dear uncle, whose life you -saved at the peril of your own, speak of you in tones of deep affection, -and here is a diamond breastpin he gave me in Switzerland, on the Lake -of Geneva, on a tranquil moonlight evening, only ten days before his -soul’s departure for the spirit realms. Take it, dear Mr. Branch, and -keep it in remembrance of his affectionate niece. To no other being -would I present a sacred gift of my departed uncle. - -_Stephen_ (_with overwhelming emotion_).—Please accept my profoundest -gratitude for your precious donation, which I will wear near a heart -that dearly loved your departed uncle, with whom I passed some of the -happiest hours of my life. - -_The Youngest Daughter_ (_who is about ten years old_).—Dear Mr. Branch: -Will you take this sweet rose from me, and let me kiss you through the -grate? - -_Stephen._—O God! This is too much for my poor nerves. (_I shed copious -tears, and all weep._) Yes, my pretty little girl, you can kiss me -through the grate. (_And her father holds her up, and I place my pale, -and cold, and haggard cheek to a perforation of my cell door, and this -affectionate little girl imprints a fervent kiss, which I cordially -reciprocate._) - -_Father._—God has blessed me with great prosperity, and I will devote my -fortune to your restoration to liberty. - -_Stephen._—Mr. Ashmead, my able and faithful Counsel, assures me that I -will soon emerge from prison, through the Supreme Judiciary. I most -sincerely thank you for your extraordinary generosity, and for the visit -of yourself and wife, and daughters, whom I will cherish all my days. - -_Father._—When you obtain your liberty, you must come to Charleston, -where you will be received with our warmest hospitality. - -_Wife._—If you come, you shall never leave us. - -_Eldest Daughter._—You shall have the vacant seat of my uncle at our -table. - -_Youngest Daughter._—Yes; and I will kiss you again—won’t I mother?—when -you come to Charleston. - -_Mother._—Yes, my dear child; and you shall give him the sweetest rose -in our garden. - -_Youngest Daughter._—That I will, and pretty flowers, too. - -_Father._—Good by, Mr. Branch. (_Strives to get his hand through the -perforated door, but can clasp my fingers with but two of his._) Good -by, sir—good by. - -_Wife._—Good by, Mr. Branch. I hope you will be restored to freedom. - -_Eldest Daughter._—Good by, Mr. Branch. I shall think of you with -kindness, after I am gone, and I shall yearn to see you at our home in -Carolina. - -_Youngest Daughter._—Good by, dear Mr. Branch, and I want you to give me -another kiss before I go. (_I kiss her, and receive many in return._) -Good by, and you must not forget to come to Charleston, when these bad -men let you out of prison. Good by, dear Mr. Branch, and I hope you will -not be lonely and cry much after we have gone far away from you. Good -by, Mr. Branch. - -_Stephen._—Farewell, kind friends, and may God ever bless you for your -noble sympathy. (_All go, and I prostrate myself on my cot, and am in -prayers and tears long after their mournful departure._) - - ------------------------------------ - - -I cut these lines from a newspaper when I was a boy. I think they bore -the Christian name of a lady. I am no poet, and do not know their merit. -Perhaps Bryant or Prentrice can discern their beauties. Let pure and -pensive and wild enthusiasts scan them for congenial spirits, and I -think they will preserve these curious meditations which have been in my -scrap-book since I was a pale youth, with my classic satchel, in the -schools of Rhode Island. Those editors who copy these lines must not -credit them to STEPHEN H. BRANCH, but they should say that they came -from the jaws of his ALLIGATOR, as their author is unknown, and as that -Animal introduces them to the public for the first time in thirty years: - - - MIDNIGHT MEDITATIONS. - - Earth lies dumb before me, and the shadows - Of midnight cast their dim forms athwart it. - Quiet is brooding o’er a silent world, - And the soft hush of slumber seals each lid. - Night is too fair for sleep: with me thought wakes - And treads in distant paths, where human step - Ne’er left an echo on the vacant air. - The gorgeous canopy of heaven is wrapped - In silvery haze: Gems of uncounted wealth - Bestud the lofty concave; and the bright - Moon seems rolling like a silvery ball - Across the trackless æther, mantling the earth - In glory;—while her mellowed light - Falls on my spirit with a holy calm, like that - Of heaven. Tell us—why are we chained to earth? - ’Tis far too gross for the immortal mind, - Which yearns for higher realms, and pants in vain - For the full measure of perfection. Oh! - I have gazed upon night’s starry volume, - Till I have read long lessons of delight, - And drank the raptures of another world. - Thought, living thought, burns to embrace the whole - Of those deep mysteries eternity - Conceals from mortal understanding; and - The mind speaks out, and questions every beam - Which falls from the bright reservoir of heaven— - Interrogates each plant and breathing thing— - Retires within itself, and calls up every - Faculty—sends powerful fancy forth to - Search through untrod regions, but spends its pow’rs - Unsatisfied, till it sinks down at last - Exhausted by its own intensity. - - O for a walk among those stars of light, - Where grandeur fills immensity! I long - To fling my soul upon the pinions of - Eternity, and revel in the blaze - Of glory unrevealed—to gaze upon - The light that emanates from God’s vast throne, - And hear the music of the rolling spheres - As they revolve in mystic circles round - The deep centre of unknown attraction. - Spirits of heaven are hov’ring round me, - And breathe sweet songs of rapture in my ear. - The rustle of their wings is like the sigh - Of leaves, when the soft zephyr moves among - Their quiv’ring branches. Their hallowed voices - Wake the eternity within me, and warm - Aspirations rise from my heart’s altar - To the great throne of Uncreated Power, - The wings of seraphim seem wafting me - In thought far through the bright and boundless ether. - O for the freedom of unbodied life! - To rove where thought ne’er ventured—where fancy - Halts, her swift wing wearied in its lofty flight. - - I gaze upon the stars, and drink the full - Glory of the midnight heavens—and breathe - The breath of spiritual existence - Till my soul beats, like a captive bird, - Against its prison grates, and longs to soar away, and mix - With immortality. - - Are not the stars - Immortal? Do they not live forever - In a joy of light? Have they not looked down - From age to age upon this distant world - And watched its evolutions? Viewed its face - Change beneath the whelming flood—its cities - Sink beneath the earthquake’s shock—its mountains - Belch destruction—its boasted empires fall— - Its armies crushed in battle—its proud kings - Fade from earth—its ancient monumental - Grandeur crumble into dust? Yet they roll on, - Creatures of life, a beaming essence, - A mysterious throng of heavenly - Pageantry. But is there not a region - Far above that envious height; above - The stars; where beings live forever, and - No darkness comes; where light exists for ages, - Unborrowed from the sun; where storms dim not - Its brightness? and where rapture never dies? - Yes, far above the sky-bound ceiling, there - Is light—eternal light—joy unsubdued, - And everlasting life! - - Is there such a - Thing as sin? I feel it not. This is a - Holy hour. Nothing exists to me but - Heaven, and heaven’s pure habitants; all worldly - Thoughts are drowned in high communing. Is there - Such a thing as pain? I know it not, who - Oft have known it. Heaven’s high-wrought happiness - Is mine. This is a peaceful hour, and I - Could deem myself already entered on - Immortal ground, did not this clog of clay - Assure me I am yet of earth, and have, - Perchance, long years of pain, and wo, and sin - To witness, and the dark vale of death is - Yet unpassed by me, though ever near. Well, - If it must be so, welcome the hour that - Breaks these mortal shackles, and lets loose my - Spirit on the wings of life, to find its - Native element and long sought home, if - Heaven at last be mine. Congenial spirits - Of unknown existence! would that your forms - Could be perceived by mortal eyes, that I - Might hold sweet converse with you, and forget - That I am mortal. - - Oh! there is that - Within, which tells me I was destined for - A higher sphere; that heaven was made for me; - For _all_—if we accept the gift, and mount - Faith’s ladder, as the word of life directs - This life is not our destiny; ’tis but - A prelude to a state eternal, a - Mere beginning of existence, when once - Begun, that ne’er shall cease to be. Life! Life! - What art thou _now_—what art thou doomed to be? - A shade; a substance; dream; reality; - A blessing or a curse; a moment here; - Hereafter an eternity! Dread thought, - Eternity! Eternity! My soul - Is lost in that vast subject, and I shrink - Appalled from the unmeasured time to come. - No more I ask to know its hidden space; - ’Twill soon unfold to me, and I shall dwell - Forever in its changeless realm; no more - To feel emotions known on earth, or think - As now I think, or live as now I live; - ’Till then, “the mysteries of fate are hid,” - And all lie buried in a world to come. - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - -A LADY M. D. OCCULIST AND AURIST RESTORES to Sight from Blindness, -Amaurosis, Granulated Eye Lids and Weak and Sore Eyes of any standing; -opening Tear Glands, removing Cataracts, Scums, Films, Ulcers, Tumors, -Cancer &c., without operation or pain. Persons wearing spectacles -permaturely, enabled to do without them by recovering the natural tone -of the eye. Those of the aged strengthened and restored to the natural -form or convexity. Worst of cases treated successfully, as seen at the -Infirmary, from 12 M to 2 P. M., on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. - - NO. 656 SIXTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, - - (FIRST FLOOR, ROOMS NOS. 1, 2 & 3) - -Abundant personal references given that her remedies are harmless, and -her cures performed without operation or the slightest pain. - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - -THE FINEST ILLUSTRATED WORK EVER ISSUED—cost $12,000. Price $2.50. - -THE LIFE, TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF FERDINAND DE SOTO, DISCOVERER OF THE -MISSISSIPPI. 1 vol., 556 pages octavo 30 superb Steel and Wood -Engravings, Printed on fine paper and bound elegantly. One of these -superb Steel Plates is photographed of the $10,000 painting ordered by -Congress, worth the price of the book. - -This book is indispensable to every library. Pronounced by The New York -Herald to be “the most interesting book in the English language.” 10,000 -Agents wanted to canvass for this work, to whom we will give a district -not already taken. - -Sent by mail free of postage on receipt of the money. Postmasters are -allowed 30 per cent on all subscribers they send us—Address - - JAMES T. LLOYD, Publisher, Philadelphia, Penn. - - ---------------------------------------------------------------- - - - FALL ELECTION. - - STATE OF NEW-YORK, } - OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, } - ALBANY, August 2, 1858. } - -_To the Sheriff of the County of New York_: - -SIR—NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, THAT AT THE GENERAL Election to be held in -this State on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November next, -the following officers are to be elected, to wit: - -A GOVERNOR, in the place of John A. King; - -A LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, in the place of Henry R. Selden; - -A CANAL COMMISSIONER, in the place of Samuel B. Ruggles, appointed in -place of Samuel S. Whallon, deceased; - -AN INSPECTOR OF STATE PRISONS, in the place of William A. Russell; - -All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December next. - -A REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for -the Third Congressional District, composed of the First, Second, Third, -Fifth and Eighth Wards in the city of New York; - -A REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for -the Fourth Congressional District, composed of the Fourth, Sixth, Tenth -and Fourteenth Wards in the city of New York; - -A REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for -the Fifth Congressional District, composed of the Seventh and Thirteenth -Wards of the city of New York, and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth -and Sixteenth Wards of Brooklyn; - -A REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for -the Sixth Congressional District, composed of the Eleventh, Fifteenth -and Seventeenth Wards in the City of New York; - -A REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United States, for -the Seventh Congressional District, composed of the Ninth, Sixteenth, -and Twentieth Wards in the City of New York; - -And also, a REPRESENTATIVE in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States for the Eighth Congressional District, composed of the Twelfth, -Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second Wards in the -City of New York. - - - COUNTY OFFICERS ALSO TO BE ELECTED FOR SAID COUNTY. - -SEVENTEEN MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY; - -A SHERIFF, in the place of James C. Willett; - -A COUNTY CLERK, in the place of Richard B. Connolly; - -FOUR CORONERS, in the place of Frederick W. Perry, Edward Connery, -Robert Gamble and Samuel C. Hills; - -All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December next. - -The attention of Inspectors of Election and County Canvassers is -directed to Chapter 320 of Laws of 1858, a copy of which is printed, for -instructions in regard to their duties under said law, “submitting the -question of calling a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend -the same to the people of the State.” - - - CHAP. 320. - -AN ACT to submit the question of calling a Convention to revise the - Constitution and amend the same, to the People of the State: - -Passed April 17, 1858—three-fifths being present. - -_The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and - Assembly, do enact as follows_: - -SECTION 1. The Inspectors of Election in each town, ward, and election -district in this State, at the annual election to be held in November -next, shall provide a proper box to receive the ballots of the citizens -of this State entitled to vote for members of the Legislature at such -election. On such ballot shall be written or printed, or partly written -and printed, by those voters who are in favor of a Convention, the -words: “Shall there be a Convention to Revise the Constitution and amend -the same? Yes.” And by those voters who are opposed thereto, the words: -“Shall there be a Convention to Revise the Constitution and amend the -same? No.” And all citizens entitled to vote as aforesaid shall be -allowed to vote by ballot as aforesaid, in the election district in -which he resides, and not elsewhere. - -§2. So much of the articles one, two and three, of title four, of -chapter one hundred and thirty, of an act entitled “An act respecting -elections other than for militia and town officer,” passed April fifth, -eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts amending the same, as -regulates the manner of conducting elections and challenges oaths to be -administered, and inquiries to be made, of persons offering to vote, -shall be deemed applicable to the votes to be given or offered under the -act; and the manner of voting and challenges, and the penalties for -false swearing, prescribed by law, are hereby declared in full force and -effect in voting or offering to vote under this act. - -§3. The said votes given for and against a convention, in pursuance of -this act, shall be canvassed by the Inspectors of the several election -districts or polls of the said election in the manner prescribed by law, -and as provided in article four, of title four, of chapter one hundred -and thirty of the said act, passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and -forty-two, and the acts amending the same, as far as the same are -applicable; and such canvass shall be completed by ascertaining the -whole number of votes given in each election district or poll for a -convention, and the whole number of votes given against such convention, -in the form aforesaid; and the result being found, the inspectors shall -make a statement in words, at full length, of the number of ballots -received in relation to such convention, and shall also state in words, -at full length, the whole number of ballots having thereon the words, -“Shall there be a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend the -same? No.” Such statements as aforesaid shall contain a caption, stating -the day on which, and the number of the district, the town or ward, and -the county at which the election was held, and at the end thereof a -certificate that such statement is correct in all respects, which -certificate shall be subscribed by all the inspectors, and a true copy -of such statement shall be immediately filed by them in the office of -the clerk of the town or city. - -§4. The original statements, duly certified as aforesaid, shall be -delivered by the inspectors, or one of them to be deputed for that -purpose, to the supervisor, or, in case there be no supervisor, or he -shall be disabled from attending the board of canvassers, then to one of -the assessors of the town or ward, within twenty-four hours after the -same shall have been subscribed by such inspectors, to be disposed of as -other statements at such election, are now required by law. - -§5. So much of articles first, second, third, and fourth, of title -fifth, of chapter one hundred and thirty, of the act entitled, “An act -respecting elections other than for militia and town officers,” and the -acts amending the same, as regulates the duties of County Canvassers and -their proceedings, and the duty of County Clerks, and the Secretary of -State, and the Board of State Canvassers, shall be applied to the -canvassing and ascertaining the will of the people of this State in -relation to the proposed convention; and if it shall appear that a -majority of the votes or ballots given in and returned as aforesaid are -against a convention, then the said canvassers are required to certify -and declare that fact by a certificate, subscribed by them, and filed -with the Secretary of State; but if it shall appear by the said canvass -that a majority of the ballots or votes given as aforesaid are for a -convention, then they shall by like certificates, to be filed as -aforesaid, declare that fact; and the said Secretary shall communicate a -copy of such certificate to both branches of the Legislature, at the -opening of the next session thereof. Yours, respectfully, - - GIDEON J. TUCKER, Secretary of State. - - SHERIFF’S OFFICE, } - - NEW YORK, August 4, 1858. } - -The above is published pursuant to the notice of the Secretary of State, -and the requirements of the Statute in such case made and provided. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 -no. 23, September 25, 1858, by Stephen H. 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border-bottom: 3px double; margin-top: 1em; max-width: 35em; - margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; } - @media handheld { body { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; } } - @media handheld { .tnote { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; - border: 1px solid silver; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; } } - @media handheld { .column { max-width: 35em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; - } } - @media handheld { .padded { padding-left: 1.8em; } } - @media handheld { .fancy { font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 2em;} } - @media handheld { .double { border: 0; border-bottom: 3px double; margin-top: 1em; - max-width: 35em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} } - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 no. -23, September 25, 1858, by Stephen H. Branch - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 no. 23, September 25, 1858 - -Author: Stephen H. Branch - -Release Date: June 30, 2017 [EBook #55015] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRANCH'S ALLIGATOR, SEPT 25, 1858 *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class='tnote'> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber Notes</div> - </div> -</div> - - <ul class='ul_1'> - <li>Obvious printer errors, typos and missing punctuation fixed. Misspellings in the - pupil’s speech in the Stephen and his Adult Pupil story have been retained, as have - archaic spellings and inconsistent hyphenation. - </li> - <li>The cover has been created by the transcriber and placed in the public domain. - </li> - <li>The table of contents has been created and added by the transcriber. - </li> - </ul> - -</div> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='92%' /> -<col width='7%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c001'>Early Boyhood and its Merry Pastimes.</td> - <td class='c002'><a href='#boyhood'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c001'>The Alligator Lives for Another Week.</td> - <td class='c002'><a href='#alligator'>2</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c001'>Stephen and his Adult Pupil.</td> - <td class='c002'><a href='#pupil'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c001'>Stephen H. Branch, in his Cell at Blackwell’s Island—A Mournful Scene.</td> - <td class='c002'><a href='#scene'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c001'>Advertisements</td> - <td class='c002'><a href='#ads'>4</a></td> - </tr> -</table> -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/logo.jpg' alt='STEPHEN H. BRANCH’S ALLIGATOR.' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c1'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div>Volume I.—No. 23.<span class='padded'>SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1858.</span><span class='padded'>Price 2 Cents.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div> - <h1 class='c004'>STEPHEN H. BRANCH’S <br /> ALLIGATOR.</h1> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span></div> -<div class='column'> - -<div> - <h2 id='boyhood' class='c005'>Early Boyhood and its Merry Pastimes.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I remember the woman’s school at four years old, and the merited -chastisement of the school marm; my desperate descent on -the sugar bowl; the military company of which I was commander; -my annual cries in the trundle bed at 12 o’clock and one second, -A. M.: “I wish you merry Christmas, Ma,—I wish you -happy New Year, Pa,—now gim me cent;” with my father’s: -“Go to sleep, you young rascal, or I’ll come and spank you;” the -two cents I always got on the 4th of July, if I had been a good -boy, and the solitary penny if I hadn’t; the death of my mother -of twins; the copious tears of my father and Aunt Lucy; my -grief at her sudden demise; the country boarding school, and the -blast of lightning that felled me to the earth, while whittling on -the summer green; my eyes soon open on the glories of the lurid -universe, and I scamper into the pretty cottage, and bound into -the arms of my aunt, who nearly smothers me with affectionate -embraces; the storm passes; a bow appears, with crimson arrows, -and lingers on the concave’s rosy verge, till Venus gleams through -the twilight leaves, when its gorgeous hues are vailed by the revolving -spheres, and it descends the dazzling west.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c000'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whose Archer follows the resplendent sun,</div> - <div class='line'>Before whose darts the stormy Furies run;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>the moon ascends the east in matchless splendor, and roams in -tranquil beauty through infinitude, spreading its snowy light on -vale and mead, that vie with lakes of liquid silver; my aunt lingers -at my bed, while I say my evening prayer, and invests my -heart with sacred feelings; myself and brother William, on our -way to school, through a dreary wood, espy a boy in a wagon, -when I exclaim: “Why, Bill, there’s our brother Albert;” Bill -stares and says: “Steve, your perceptions are very foggy, and I -begin to think you aint got good sense;” I closely scan the boy, -and smile, but elicit no response, the little rogue riveting his bright -blue eyes on the vacant air; Bill passes on to school, with: -“Steve, you are raving mad, and I’m going to tell Aunt Freeman -so;” when I address the stranger thus: “Little boy, you look like -my brother Albert, and this horse and wagon resemble ours, and -won’t you please to tell me if you aint my brother Al, who lives -far away from here, in a place called Providence? I always dearly -loved him, and I havn’t seen him for a long time now, and I would -like to see him very much; come, now, little boy, aint you Ally -Branch, and if you are, won’t you please to tell me so?” Tears -roll down his pale cheeks, followed by the sweetest smiles, (like -simultaneous rain and sunshine,) extending his arms, with: “How -do you do, dear brother Stevy;” I scream; dart into the wagon, -and, placing my arms around his neck, fondly kiss him. And then -I made the woods ring with my cries for Bill to return, and behold -our dear brother, found so mysteriously alone in the forest -wild. Bill slowly returns; and I hear the echo of a laugh, and see -a man emerge from the monarch oaks, whom I discern as father, -whose playful stratagem blares brightly before my enraptured -vision. And with the velocity of light, I spring from the wagon, -and at a bound, am in the embraces of my adored father. The -vail slowly passes from the eyes of Bill, who stands like a statue -in the dim perspective, crying lustily over my triumphant conquest. -We all shout and wave our hands, and Willie bounds into -Albert’s and father’s arms, whose fervent kisses soon dispel his -tears; when his crescent and revolving eyes gently threaten to -eclipse the sun and moon with hilarious splendor; three happy -brothers then rock the forest solitude with merry vociferations, -and run like deer, and sing like infant Jubals, with sweet responses -from congenial birds, prancing on the oaks’ majestic -branches. And with hearts of gladness, we spring like hounds -into the wagon, and return to Aunt Freeman’s, and that I regard -as one of the happiest days of my early boyhood. On the following -morn, we leave for Providence, which I scarcely reach, ere our -yard is a camp of boys, eager to embrace their favorite commander, -after his long captivity in the desert wilds of Woodstock; myself -and Albert soon go to another country school; we board with -a minister who has a large family, and a small salary, which was -tardily and scantily paid with very poor provisions; myself and -Al don’t like the fare; has fried pork too often for breakfast, and -pork and beans for dinner, with a cold cut of pork and beans at -nightfall; and we enter our solemn protest against so much fried -hog, and so many baked beans; we protest, too, against his not -fastening the doors and windows nights, as father does at home; -we hear strange noises nights, while abed; and respectfully implore -him to put locks on the doors, and nails in the windows, who -refuses, and says, that good boys are never afraid of robbers or assassins; -we still hear dreadful sounds at midnight; and bury ourselves, -head and all, in the bed clothes; sweat terribly, and nearly -smother; grow pale; lose flesh; get very weak; have cold night -sweats; finally despair, and threaten to leave for home; write -long letters to father, full of bad writing and spelling, who doesn’t -answer them, because he can’t read them; we start for Providence; -our sacred host pursues us on a cadaverous horse, whose ribs -rattle, and captures us in the haunted woods, where, in old times, a -man was murdered, and two lovers hung themselves, because their -parents wouldn’t let them marry; I and Al were hurrying through -this dreadful wood, when old cadaverous and the parson pounce -upon us, who threatens to whip us if we don’t return, and cuts a -switch for the purpose; his eyes roll terribly, and, as I once heard -he was slightly insane at times, and, fearing he might murder me, -I gave the wink to Al, and we concluded to return, very gently -shaking our heads and fists, with threats of telling our father all -about it some day, who was a Justice of the Peace, and could lock -up any body, and have them hung beside; to silence our unceasing -clamors, the parson gets some cheap second-hand locks, and rusty -nails, fastens the doors and windows nights, and gives us fried liver -twice a week for breakfast, and lets pork and beans slide awhile, -with very tender veal instead; don’t hear strange sounds at night -any more; sleep very soundly; don’t hear the cheerless midnight -winds as of yore; get fat as butter; are very contented; Fourth -of July close at hand; father comes after us; shed tears of joy, -and run and jump like wild cats, and get home alive once more -from a country boarding school; go to a party on the night of our -arrival; Oscar Rivulet and Clara Violet are there; at the party’s -close, I can’t find my hat, and while in its vigorous pursuit, Oscar -takes the arm of Clara, when I step up and whisper in his ear, that -I will chastise him the very next day for cutting me out; Oscar -and Clara depart; I find my hat in the oven, where Oscar doubtless -put it, and begin to cry with rage; to console me, my aunt -places the arm of Flora Rosebud in mine, who was a dashing little -belle, with whom I slowly ramble towards her home beneath a -brilliant sky; soon after I bid Flora good night, at her father’s -door, a dark cloud rapidly arose and obscured the moon, and I became -afraid, and ran fleetly home, expecting to meet an assassin at -every corner’s turn, but when I heard the cheerful watchman’s cry -of “half-past eight o’clock, and all’s well,” and beheld his noble -form in the distance, my fears are tranquilized, and I walk as erect -and firm as the hero of many battles, and loudly boast of my courage, -after I get snugly in the trundle bed with Albert, the shield of -my father’s voice above me, to fortify my pretended valor. On the -following day, my step-mother struck me on the head with a -jacket with brass buttons, for my impudence at dinner in my father’s -absence, because she wouldn’t give me more boiled onions, of -which I was very fond; the blood flowed freely, and she was terrified -lest I would bleed to death, and she be hung; she dressed -the wounds most tenderly, and gave me plenty of onions and sugar, -and warmly coaxed me not to tell father when he came to tea, -lest he would gently chide her for her laceration of the skull of the -prolific brain of the darling son who bore his own father’s promising -name of Stephen; and for many days she gave me candy and -peanuts, and gave me so many onions that I have loathed them -since; she even poulticed my lacerated head with boiled onions, -which I smell to this day; I had the ear-ache, and she even put a -small roast onion in my ear to check the pain; I once passed -through Weathersfield, (where onions are as thick as leaves in the -Vale of Vallambrosa,) whose atmosphere caused me to fertilize its -streets with bile; my step-mother finally stops my supplies of -sweetmeats, and I threaten to tell my father of her violent blow, -and show him my scars, when she surrendered, and gave me sweet -things for a long period; and she saved me many a whipping from -my father, when I was mischievous, lest I would tell and show the -relics of her trouncing, which gave me a boundless latitude for -pranks until the scars all passed away; at this time, my dog Watch -was drowned, but he rose the ninth day, and I buried him at the -foot of my father’s garden, with funeral honors, a neighboring dog, -in traces, bearing his precious body to the grave, over which I placed -turf and stones in memory of a dog I dearly loved; after the funeral, -Cornelius Snow, nicknamed Flop, called me names, and I -told my father that “Flop Snow had called me names, and I meant -to lick him for it,” when my father effected a reconciliation, by allowing -Cornelius to call me Steve as long as I called him Flop. -He had long been at the head of my class, at school, and I had never -been at the head, which mortified my father, who told me if I -would get above Flop through good spelling, he would give me a -sixpence; I tried long and hard, but I couldn’t do it; so, on a very -stormy day, while myself and Flop were the only boys of our -spelling class at school, I told him that if he would make a mistake -in spelling, and let me keep at the head until school was over, -I would give him three cents; Flop consented, and broke down -on beef, which he spelled <em>b-e-a-p-h-f-e</em>, for which the teacher boxed -his ears, and made him see ten thousand sparkling stars; I got -sixpence from my father, and gave Flop half of it; there was a full -class the next day, and down I went to the foot, my usual place; -my father learned of my collusion with Flop, and gave me a tremendous -whipping; the next day I went several miles down Providence -river, in a canoe with Elias Smith and Joseph Fuller, and -was gone four days, and all the town was terribly excited lest we -were lost; but Mr. Proud, a neighbor, of whose peaches and melons -I was very fond, stuck to it like beeswax, that I would never be -drowned, while hemp grew in Kentucky; the day after my return, -my step-mother whips Albert for stealing a small lump of sugar, at -about 11, A. M.; father usually came to dinner at 12, M.; Ally -cried for a long time; but he began to lull, and I was afraid he -wouldn’t hold out until father got home; so, I got Ally down cellar, -and pinched him, and pulled his hair, to make him keep it up, -until father got home; it being near twelve o’clock, and my step-mother -knowing my influence over Ally, told me if I would pacify -him before father came to dinner, she would give me as much sugar -as I wanted for a whole week; I accepted the bribe,—but Al -overheard us, and declared that he would cry like thunder, until -father came, if I didn’t give him half the sugar; we finally compromised, -by allowing Ally a quarter of all the lumps I got; a few -days after, while returning from a Saturday excursion down the -river, my brother Bill cut up so, that the boat capsized, in very -deep water, a short distance from the shore; Jim Baker and myself -got on the bottom of the boat, while Bill’s feet and head were -entangled in the ropes and sail; Sam Thurber and others swam to -the shore; Jim Baker and myself couldn’t swim, and we expected -to be lost; and we bellowed murder like fury; amid this awful -scene, the owner of the boat came down the shore, and cried: -“Pay for that boat, you rascals, pay for that boat;” he had scarcely -breathed these brutal words, when down went Jim Baker and -myself to the river’s bed; I rose to the surface first, and went -down again, when Jim grabbed my leg, and we came up together, -and a noble sailor seized and bore us to the shore, where we were -put in barrels, and pints of water squeezed out of us; Jim and myself -open our dewy eyes, shake hands, and walk home arm in arm, -with the sailor behind, thrashing the boat proprietor for demanding -pay, instead of coming to our rescue, whose unparalleled inhumanity -the gallant tar couldn’t tolerate. I went to bed, and had a -horrid night-mare, and dreamed of sharks and whales. On the -day after the boat calamity of Jim Baker and myself on Providence -river, I arose with the glorious sun, ate a spare repast, and -went to school. My stomach yet complained of salt water, and -my head and books were at rapiers’ points. The teacher, <span class='sc'>Shaw</span>, -vainly chides me for my indolence, and summons me before him, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>and demands my spelling-book, and gives me <em>genuine</em>, which I -spell “<em>gen-ner-wine</em>.” The school is convulsed in the wildest -screams. Shaw seizes his lignumvitae ruler, darts through the -aisles, rolls his big gray eyes, and bangs the desks until the dust -rises into clouds, when the mirthful tumult is hushed into the -silence of a tomb, and he bids me take my seat, with furious cuffs -of both ears. My brother Bill had been snickering in his hat, and -sleeve, and handkerchief, until he had saturated them all with his -hilarious tears, and, as I passed him on my way to my seat, he -burst into a <em>genuine</em> Branch laugh, and all again was chaos. The -scholars were more uproarious than before, and Shaw rages furiously, -and calls up Bill, when all is silent terror, and every eye is -riveted on its book. Shaw demands Bill to extend his right hand, -which he declines to do, because he has a felon, and tender warts -all over his knuckles. Shaw then commands him to hold up his -left hand, and Bill obeys, when Shaw’s eyes flash sparks of fire, his -cheeks are deathly pale, and his ferule descends with tremendous -violence</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c000'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>On the vacant air,</div> - <div class='line'>As Bill’s hand wan’t there!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The scholars roar again, and clap their little hands, and stamp -their feet in the wildest ecstacy, when Shaw bellows like a rabid -bull, and gesticulates fatality to the rebellious scholars, whose eyes -fall quickly on their books, and all violently move their pallid -lips, with pretense of study, while a terrible revenge rankles in -their hearts, for Shaw’s cruel treatment of Bill, who has so many -warts and a felon, with salt water still gurgling in his ocean belly. -At Shaw’s wrathful behest, Bill again raises his trembling hand, -and keeps his eye fastened on Shaw’s; and as the ruler nears his -palm, he dodges, when Shaw flies to his scholastic throne for his -cow-skin, and descends his ramparts with the pomposity of a king, -calmly surveying his juvenile and affrighted subjects, and directs -Bill to remove his jacket, who firmly declines. Shaw seizes him, -and Bill cries murder; the girls weep and faint, and water is -sprinkled on their cheeks and foreheads; the boys shake their -fists, and dare each other to rush to Bill’s rescue, but Shaw threatens -them with utter annihilation if they interfere, and the belligerent -and affrighted boys leave poor Bill to his unhappy fate.—Fortunately -for Bill, Shaw is short, and of very slender mould. -Bill is stout, knows well the physical weakness of his adversary, -and proves himself fully equal to the awful crisis before him. For, -while Shaw strives to get Bill across his knees to switch and spank -him, Bill, by a sudden and very elastic movement, gets between, -and coils himself, like a snake, around Shaw’s legs, and pinches, -and bites, and tears his pants, and finally trips him, and down they -go, with Bill on Shaw, and with both hands so firmly and desperately -clenched in Shaw’s white cravat, as to make his tongue protrude. -The girls faintly titter, while the stoutest and bravest boys -bang their desks, and wildly shout with joy. The panting combatants -spring to the floor, and, like two roosters, have a moment’s -respite; Shaw is pale, and trembles with shame, and relents, and -in feeble and broken accents, directs Bill to take his seat; the silence -of a Capulet pervades the school, when my tremendous -horse laugh breaks the calm; the scholars scream again with frantic -contortions; Shaw’s eyes roll like a demon’s, and his voice rises -high above the universal clamor, which slowly subsides, and all is -still again; Shaw then comes on tiptoe to my desk, and grabs and -drags me to the aisle, with one hand clutched in my throat, and -the other in my long hair, when I grab him in a tender spot, and -make him squeal; and so severe and unrelenting is my grasp, that -he gladly gives freedom to my throat and hair, and implores, in -tones of excruciating agony, to release my hands. I slowly do so, -when he re-seizes me, and, dragging me several feet by my hair, -kicks away the scuttle, and casts me headlong beneath the schoolhouse, -closing the scuttle over me; I can hardly sit upright in my -new abode; all is darkness; I smell the awful perfume of a dead -skunk; little mice squeal, and run over me, and nibble at my -mouth and nose, and big and hungry rats approach, and violently -attack me, which I keep at bay with my feet and hands, and hideous -yells, and they finally scamper to their holes, while a myriad -of mice remain to torment me; I chew tobacco, to drown my abject -sorrow; it is the first cud that ever graced my mouth; I cover -it with the fragment of a newspaper, to prevent my giddy exhiliration -through a too strong taste of tobacco; I soon got deathly sick, -and thump and scream for Shaw to let me out, who heeds not my -piteous cries; I am desperate, and resting my hands and feet on -the ground, I get an irresistible purchase, and with a mighty -movement of my back, I burst the scuttle with a tremendous -crash, and dart from my narrow and dreary cavern into the schoolroom, -and run down the aisle, vomiting at every step; the scholars -are nearly gone; as I approach the door, Shaw grabs me, when I -belch the purest bile plump in his face, which, of course, was purely -accidental; Shaw is blinded with tobacco bile, and wipes his -cheeks, and nose, and mouth, and eyes, and commands me to go to -his desk; I refuse; he then expostulates, and breathes kind words, -which allay my anger, and check the flow of tobacco and salt water -bile; I go to his desk; he dismisses the few scholars that remain, -save my weeping brother Bill, curled in the corner; Shaw -laments the sad occurrence; hopes we will be better boys, and -permits us to go home; on our arrival, father is at tea, listening to -brother Albert’s version of the story; Bill and myself seat ourselves -at table, when father directs each to give his melancholy -narrative; Bill is hungry, and slowly begins, and lacks vivacity, -and the impatient father turns to me for the rapid and vivid analysis -of the horrid scholastic anarchy and rencontre then flying on -exaggeration’s wide-spread wings, and distracting the peaceful -firesides of Providence; I swallow the delicious food already in -my mouth; cleanse my throat with a prolonged swallow of commingled -tea and sugar, and tell my story in a nervous strain; my -father’s eyes are large, and fixed on mine, throughout my exciting -narrative, at whose close, he gets his hat and cane and autumnal -mantle, and bids myself and Bill to follow him; we penetrate the -pitchy darkness, and after varied street meanderings in the turbulent -and piercing evening winds, we ascend the steps, and tap at -the door of Shaw; we enter his pale presence, who is extremely -courteous to father, who is a member of the Visiting School Committee, -and invested with power of a teacher’s dismissal, which -Shaw now fears; father opens his deadly batteries, and Shaw, perceiving -no possible escape, pleads extenuation for the violent temper -that nature gave him; spoke of William as a very good and -studious boy, (a truth,) and of Stephen as a meritorious and enthusiastic -youth, who dearly loved his books, (a lie,) and deeply -regretted that his heated passion led him to the chastisement of -William, and the incarceration of Stephen; and declared in tones -of warm sincerity, that if father would forgive him, he would never -whip nor imprison us again, but lead us up the hill of science -through gentle and persuasive means; father pities and admires -his humility, and, rising to depart, directs Shaw to inform him -every Friday by letter, how many days William and Stephen have -played the truant during the week, and with what facility we recite -our lessons, and what our general conduct is; Shaw’s eyes -flash joy at these delightful and magnanimous behests, while the -eyes of Bill and myself flash guilt and fury at Shaw’s apparent -conquest, because all our future sport is spoiled, and mine, especially, -as I played truant about twice a week, and Bill once a -month; and because I seldom got my lessons well; Shaw and father -extend their hands, and shake a warm good night: and while -they linger at the outer door in friendly conversation, I slyly -crawl through father’s legs, to get into the street as soon as possible, -and away from Shaw’s victorious presence; the last shake -of hands transpire between father and Shaw, who slowly closes -the door with a beatific smile; father, myself, and Bill muffle ourselves -in our fervent garments; it snows and blows very hard; -and, as we walk slowly homeward against the snow and wind, -father delivers an affectionate and mournful lecture, gently chiding -us for the trouble we had caused him, and the rapid increase of his -snowy locks; kindly warning us that we were constantly exposed -to the sad fate of orphans, our tender mother being already gone -forever; and with a trembling voice implored us to be good boys, -to study hard, to be kind and obedient to Mr. Shaw, to cultivate -manly virtues, and strive to become intellectual giants, and the -pillars of our country, in peace or war, after the fathers of his generation -had passed from the field of action. We both wept bitterly, -and besought our dear and indulgent father to forgive the past, -with assurances of our efforts to please him and our teacher in the -future. We reach home, and father kindles a crackling, hickory -fire, and gives us cider and walnuts, and tells us pretty stories, and -puts on extra bed clothes, because the night is so piercing cold, and -tucks our bed at the sides, to keep out the biting air, and then directs -us to clasp and raise our little hands to God, and say after him -our evening prayer of</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c000'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Now I lay me down to sleep,</div> - <div class='line'>I pray the Lord my soul to keep,</div> - <div class='line'>If I should die before I wake,</div> - <div class='line'>I pray the Lord my soul to take;”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>and then gives us a parting kiss, and pats our little foreheads, and -breathes sweet tones of affection until he passes from our view. -Bill and myself make good resolves for the future, and breathe a -fond “good night!” and then embrace the tranquil slumber and -innocent dreams of early boyhood.</p> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Office—114 Nassau Street</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c009' /> -<div class='fancy'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>THE ALLIGATOR.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<hr class='c009' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>New York, Saturday, September 25, 1858.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> - -<div> - <h2 id='alligator' class='c005'>The Alligator Lives for Another Week.</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>The Ladies have saved the <span class='sc'>Alligator</span> for -six days more, in which God made the gorgeous -realms of infinitude! Last week, I proclaimed -that unless advance subscribers or patriots came -to the rescue of the wounded and bleeding <span class='sc'>Alligator</span>, -he must soon expire amid the tumultuous -exultations of his proscriptive adversaries. -The gentlemen responded in companies, but -the ladies in battalions, and soothed and rescued -the poor <span class='sc'>Alligator</span> from the jaws of immediate -death.<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c010'><sup>[1]</sup></a> Without the sympathy of woman, -man soon droops, and totters, and expires. -Woman is the prolific source of all that glorifies -the cottages, and mansions, and palaces of -the globe. And her benevolence ameliorates -the poor, and oppressed, and disconsolate in -every region of the earth. From Eve to Mary, -the mother of Washington, the history of woman -is a brilliant constellation. Without the -pure and patriotic Mary, there would have been -no Washington,—and without Washington, -the Americans would have had no country, and -the oppressed of all lands no asylum of liberty -and prosperity. In the sacred bosom of her -family, woman is like the queen of night amid -the pretty stars. In our infant years, she nourishes, -and shields, and cheers us in our precarious -journey to maturer years. She imparts -the first kiss, and moulds the first prayer, and -is prouder of her offspring than a queen of her -throne. As the child buds, and blooms, and -blossoms, and ascends the hill of moral and -scholastic science, she watches every pace with -breathless solicitude. And in penury or affluence, -in bondage or freedom, in power or on -the scaffold, she clings with intense affection to -the adored objects of her creation. Every family -is a dominion. The father is a king, and -the mother a queen, and the children their subjects. -The same laws govern a family as a -kingdom. Judicious penalties follow disobedience, -and a good mother imbues the heart -and mind of her offspring with humanity and -wisdom that govern the world. And over all -presides a Being of beneficence and ubiquity, -who wields the destinies of a Universe. Woman, -under God, is the source of all that cheers -and ennobles man in his weary pilgrimage -from the cradle to the grave, and to her sympathies -am I greatly indebted for my recent -liberation from captivity and the partial resurrection -of my declining fortunes. God bless -her, then, and in my sacred orisons and soliloquies, -on land or ocean, I will ever cherish her -with those grateful emotions that I inherited -from the genial heart of my departed mother.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c008'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. If the <span class='sc'>Alligator</span> dies, advance subscriptions will immediately -be returned to my generous patrons, with my fervent wishes for -their prosperity.</p> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/curlyline.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c006'><span class='sc'>William Macrae</span> is the only person authorised -to collect subscriptions for the “<cite>Alligator</cite>.” -And here is his likeness, that when he -calls to solicit subscribers, all may know him by -a comparison of this accurate engraving with -his living face. My Office is at No. 114 Nassau -street, second story, front room, where advance -subscriptions will also be most gratefully received.</p> - -<div class='c011'><span class='sc'>Stephen H. Branch.</span></div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/williammacrae.jpg' alt='William Macrae' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> - -<p class='c006'>The tomb of Franklin—if a palm flag-stone with the earth can -be so called—is concealed from the public view by a venerable -brick wall at the corner of Fifth and Mulberry streets, Philadelphia. -The remains of the lightning philosopher are deposited -there in the old burial ground belonging to Christ Church. An -appropriate monument has been accidentally reared above them, -in the shape of a telegraphic post, and the lightning is at constant -play over, if not under the eye of the man who first chained it -to the earth.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 id='pupil' class='c005'>Stephen and his Adult Pupil.</h2> -</div> - -<h3 class='c012'>THE FIRST LESSON.</h3> - -<p class='c013'><i>Stephen.</i>—What do you first wish to learn?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Pupil.</i>—I desire first to review my figures.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How far have you cyphered?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I went through the book several times, when I was a boy.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Whose Arithmetic did you study?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Mr. Dollbay’s.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Daboll’s, I suppose, you mean.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, it was Daboll’s; and I remember him very well. -He was a fine man, and understood figures very well.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Then you went through his book several times?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—O yes, I can take my oath of that.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How much is twice nothing?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—That is two, of course.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How much is nothing times two?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—That is two.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How much is one-half times one?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—One.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How much is four and a-half times four and a-half?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i> (scratching his head)—That must be about thirteen.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How much is three-quarters times five-eights?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I never saw that in Daboll, and to be candid, Mr. Branch, I -have long been accustomed to rush of blood to the head, and I -had a slight rush just now, and I guess I won’t go any farther in -figures to-day; but I would like to renew my Grammar studies.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Very well: whose Grammar did you study in boyhood?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Mr. Murphy’s.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I presume you mean Lindley Murray’s?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, it was Murray’s, and he once dined at my father’s.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—As it is absolutely essential to understand spelling, before -Grammar, I will first examine you in a few words, before we embark -in Grammar. Can you spell well, sir?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Yes; and I hope you don’t mean to insult me with such a -question.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Certainly not. Spell Grammar?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Gramer.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Gramar.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—How do yau spell it, then?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Grammar.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—That’s the way I spelt it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No, sir.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—If I didd’t, I intended to.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—That may be. Spell sloop?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Slupe.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—That’s the way old Captain Tallman spelt it, when I was a -boy.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—It is spelt sloop in these days.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, that’s correct, I remember.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell dough?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Doe.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—My grandmother used to spell it so.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—It is spelt dough.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell God?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Gorde.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i> (is silent for some seconds, and grows pale, and sweats profusely)—Merciful -Heaven! And do you say Gorde is incorrect?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I do. It is spelt God.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, I was mistaken. That’s the way I have always -spelt it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell scholar?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Skoller.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Skollar.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—That’s the way I always spelt it, and I’ll bet a dollar that’s -the way to spell it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—That’s a bet.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—How shall we decide it?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Have you got a dictionary?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Yes. (Examines it.) Well, I declare, you have won the dollar. -What a curious way to spell scholar, to put <em>ch</em> for <em>k</em>. Mr. -Branch: who invented language?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—The Egyptians.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—What old fools they must have been?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Those Egyptians who discovered the alphabet, were the -wisest linguists of the human race. And those Arabians who discovered -the digits, were the profoundest mathematicians. And, -as you can neither spell nor cypher well, I advise you to defer your -arithmetic and grammar lessons until you learn orthography.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I don’t know what you mean by linguist, nor by digits. -And what on earth do you mean by orthography?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Orthography means spelling.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, I thought that was it. Now, Mr. Branch, I am in -public life, as you know, and I am very anxious to make a good -speech and write a good letter; and, in order to do that, I must -understand Grammar. And I think I can spell well enough to -study Grammar, Mr. Branch. You have only examined me in a -few words, and because I slightly broke down on them, you must -not suppose that I can’t spell well enough to study Grammar. -Just try me in a few more words.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell alderman?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Oldermon.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Olldermone.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—How, then?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Alderman.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes. That’s the way I was just agoing to spell it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell Common Council?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Komon Kounsil.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No, sir. It is spelt Common Council.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Is it possible?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Yes. And now spell municipal?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Dam if I don’t give that up; for, although I have been a -member of the municiple government, I nover could spell that -awful word without looking at the dictionary two or three times; -and it always took me a mighty long time to find municiple, even -in the dictionary. Now, do try me on some easier word than that,—won’t -you, Mr. Branch?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell Mayor?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Mare.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—How, then?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Mayor.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes,—I forgot. That’s it exactly.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell contracts?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I can spell that fast enough. Kontrax.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Kontracks.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No. It is spelt contracts.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I begin to think my memory is getting bad, for I once could -spell all these words. And I have had so many contracts from the -Corporation, and have written that word so often, that I am sure -I used to spell it correctly. Now give me one more easy word, -and if I break down, dam if I don’t surrender.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Spell Cable?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I have got a few shares in that precious stock, and I’ll bet $5 -I can spell it correctly.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Done.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Kabell.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No. It is spelt cable.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—There’s a V. And now, although I have spelt several words -incorrectly, yet, as I am growing old, I desire to learn as fast as -possible; and I want you to give me grammar lessons and teach -me spelling at the same time. And if you will learn me very fast, -I will let you have one share in the Atlantic Cable, for your instructions.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I would rather have the cash, as I cannot believe that a cord -about the circumference of my thumb can permanently connect -the hemispheres.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Very well, sir. I have perfect confidence in the Cable enterprise, -and I don’t care about parting with my stock. So I will -pay you in cash for your tuition. Now please give me a lesson in -grammar.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Well, I will strive to gratify you,—although I again assure -you, that orthography is the basis of grammar, and we shall encounter -ruinous obstacles in the construction of the grammatical -pyramid, in the absence of orthography and orthœpy.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—For the land’s sake, what is the meaning of the last word?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Orthœpy means pronunciation.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—How queer your jaw opens and closes, when you pronounce -that strange word.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I suppose so. I will now give you the first lesson in grammar.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Let me first take a good stiff horn of brandy to brace my -nerves. (Drinks.) Now, sir, I am ready for Grammar, which, I -repeat, I studied when a boy; and I only desire to review what I -know already.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—How many parts of speech are there?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—What do you mean by that?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I mean, into how many parts of speech is language divided?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Well, by golly, I don’t know exactly,—but, from the immense -number of words in the Bible, and in all the books at the -Harpers, and in the Historical Society, and in all the newspapers, -I should think there must be, at the lowest calculation, about five -hundred million parts of speech.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—There are only nine parts of speech.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—I begin to think you are crazy; for, do you think you can -humbug me by saying that there are only nine different words, or -parts of speech, in the English language? I shall consider it to -be my duty to have you put in the Lunatic Asylum, if you talk in -that way.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—I still assert that there are only nine parts of speech, which -are: a noun, article, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, -conjunction, and interjection.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, I recollect.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Well, what part of speech is iron?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—As near as I can recollect, iron is the seventh, and it may -possibly be the ninth part of speech.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—No, sir,—it is one of the nine parts of speech I just mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, excuse me,—I understand. Well, iron must be a -conjunction, because it can be heated and spliced.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—Iron is a noun.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Ah, yes, I recollect perfectly well that iron is a noun, and I -am surprised that I did not remember it, as I have long dealt in -fron, and know all about it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>S.</i>—That will do for to-day, and I will resume your grammar lessons -to-morrow. Good day, sir.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>P.</i>—Good day. I am much pleased wite my progress in grammar, -and I will see you again to-morrow with much pleasure. -Good day, sir.</p> - -<div class='c011'>[<i>Exeunt</i>,</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 id='scene' class='c005'>Stephen H. Branch, in his Cell at Blackwell’s Island—A Mournful Scene.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c014'> - <div><i>A lovely Family, at the iron door, peeping through its small perforations.</i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'><i>The Father.</i>—What is your name, sir?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—My name is Branch.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—For what are you confined?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—For an alleged libel.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—On whom?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—On Mayor Daniel F. Tiemann, Simeon Draper, and -Isaac Bell, Jr.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—What is the period of your imprisonment?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—One year. I think I have seen you before. What -is your name, sir?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—H——d.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Where do you reside?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—In Charleston, South Carolina.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Ah! The dearest associations of my life are connected -with two students bearing your name, who were from -Charleston.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—My wife and children: I think the keeper has directed -us to the Lunatic Asylum, instead of the abode of convicts. Let -us go and ask the keeper to show us to the prison.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Stop, sir. I now most positively discern the relics of -your early features. Were you a student at Cambridge in 1835?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—I was.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—And your brother also, who was rescued from a -watery grave in Boston Harbor?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father</i> (<i>leans against the iron door, and his frame trembles, -and his face assumes a deathly palor</i>).—God of Heaven! And -are you the son of Judge Stephen Branch, of Providence, Rhode -Island?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—I am, sir.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father</i> (<i>wiping sweat from his forehead and tears from his -cheeks</i>).—Dear Stephen: Give me your hand, after our long separation. -Alas! my poor brother is dead, whose life you saved in -that dreadful squall, in Boston Harbor, twenty-three years ago. -(<i>All weep, and his eldest daughter sobs aloud.</i>)</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Where and when did your noble brother die?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—In Switzerland, ten years since; and in his last days -he spoke most kindly of you.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>His Wife</i> (<i>in profuse tears</i>).—Have you a wife, Mr. Branch?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Neither wife, nor child, nor parents, nor hardly a -relative on earth. And I am glad they have gone down to their -happy graves. And I almost wish that I was reposing by their -side. The earth is no place for me, nor for those who expose the -licentious officials and plundering monsters of this age, who allure -spotless females into the horrors of prostitution, and drive the -friendless masses into cellars and attics and crowded and pestilential -habitations, and into the inclement atmosphere.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Wife.</i>—But why rejoice over the eternal departure of nearly all -your kindred?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Because it would have blighted their health and fondest -hopes to have beheld me in a felon’s dungeon.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Wife.</i>—But you have committed no crime?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—I could not do that. And I am in prison, because I -have exposed the crimes, and resisted the gilded bribes of official -plunderers for a dozen years, and utterly refused to join them in -their various deeds of infamy. I could have been affluent, and -had my liberty, if I had joined the public thieves, and shared their -plunder. And if my parents were alive, although they would rejoice -at my exposure of vicious public men, yet they would weep -over the cruelty of those who consigned me to this dungeon, without -an honorable trial, and rudely thrust me into the chain-gang -of the quarries, and even yearn for my life.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Wife.</i>—Yours seems a hard fate?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Yes; mine is indeed a mournful destiny.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Her Eldest Daughter</i> (<i>whose lovely eyes gleam with tears</i>).—I -weep over your misfortunes. I have often heard my dear uncle, -whose life you saved at the peril of your own, speak of you in -tones of deep affection, and here is a diamond breastpin he gave -me in Switzerland, on the Lake of Geneva, on a tranquil moonlight -evening, only ten days before his soul’s departure for the -spirit realms. Take it, dear Mr. Branch, and keep it in remembrance -of his affectionate niece. To no other being would I present -a sacred gift of my departed uncle.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen</i> (<i>with overwhelming emotion</i>).—Please accept my profoundest -gratitude for your precious donation, which I will wear -near a heart that dearly loved your departed uncle, with whom I -passed some of the happiest hours of my life.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>The Youngest Daughter</i> (<i>who is about ten years old</i>).—Dear -Mr. Branch: Will you take this sweet rose from me, and let me -kiss you through the grate?</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—O God! This is too much for my poor nerves. (<i>I -shed copious tears, and all weep.</i>) Yes, my pretty little girl, you -can kiss me through the grate. (<i>And her father holds her up, -and I place my pale, and cold, and haggard cheek to a perforation -of my cell door, and this affectionate little girl imprints a -fervent kiss, which I cordially reciprocate.</i>)</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—God has blessed me with great prosperity, and I will -devote my fortune to your restoration to liberty.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Mr. Ashmead, my able and faithful Counsel, assures -me that I will soon emerge from prison, through the Supreme Judiciary. -I most sincerely thank you for your extraordinary generosity, -and for the visit of yourself and wife, and daughters, whom -I will cherish all my days.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—When you obtain your liberty, you must come to -Charleston, where you will be received with our warmest hospitality.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Wife.</i>—If you come, you shall never leave us.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Eldest Daughter.</i>—You shall have the vacant seat of my uncle -at our table.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span><i>Youngest Daughter.</i>—Yes; and I will kiss you again—won’t I -mother?—when you come to Charleston.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Mother.</i>—Yes, my dear child; and you shall give him the sweetest -rose in our garden.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Youngest Daughter.</i>—That I will, and pretty flowers, too.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Father.</i>—Good by, Mr. Branch. (<i>Strives to get his hand -through the perforated door, but can clasp my fingers with but -two of his.</i>) Good by, sir—good by.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Wife.</i>—Good by, Mr. Branch. I hope you will be restored to -freedom.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Eldest Daughter.</i>—Good by, Mr. Branch. I shall think of you -with kindness, after I am gone, and I shall yearn to see you at our -home in Carolina.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Youngest Daughter.</i>—Good by, dear Mr. Branch, and I want -you to give me another kiss before I go. (<i>I kiss her, and receive -many in return.</i>) Good by, and you must not forget to come to -Charleston, when these bad men let you out of prison. Good by, -dear Mr. Branch, and I hope you will not be lonely and cry much -after we have gone far away from you. Good by, Mr. Branch.</p> - -<p class='c008'><i>Stephen.</i>—Farewell, kind friends, and may God ever bless you -for your noble sympathy. (<i>All go, and I prostrate myself on my -cot, and am in prayers and tears long after their mournful departure.</i>)</p> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/curlyline.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>I cut these lines from a newspaper when I -was a boy. I think they bore the Christian -name of a lady. I am no poet, and do not -know their merit. Perhaps Bryant or Prentrice -can discern their beauties. Let pure and -pensive and wild enthusiasts scan them for -congenial spirits, and I think they will preserve -these curious meditations which have been in my -scrap-book since I was a pale youth, with my -classic satchel, in the schools of Rhode Island. -Those editors who copy these lines must not -credit them to <span class='sc'>Stephen H. Branch</span>, but they -should say that they came from the jaws of his -<span class='sc'>Alligator</span>, as their author is unknown, and as -that Animal introduces them to the public for -the first time in thirty years:</p> - -<h3 class='c012'>MIDNIGHT MEDITATIONS.</h3> - -<div class='lg-container-b c000'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>Earth lies dumb before me, and the shadows</div> - <div class='line'>Of midnight cast their dim forms athwart it.</div> - <div class='line'>Quiet is brooding o’er a silent world,</div> - <div class='line'>And the soft hush of slumber seals each lid.</div> - <div class='line'>Night is too fair for sleep: with me thought wakes</div> - <div class='line'>And treads in distant paths, where human step</div> - <div class='line'>Ne’er left an echo on the vacant air.</div> - <div class='line'>The gorgeous canopy of heaven is wrapped</div> - <div class='line'>In silvery haze: Gems of uncounted wealth</div> - <div class='line'>Bestud the lofty concave; and the bright</div> - <div class='line'>Moon seems rolling like a silvery ball</div> - <div class='line'>Across the trackless æther, mantling the earth</div> - <div class='line'>In glory;—while her mellowed light</div> - <div class='line'>Falls on my spirit with a holy calm, like that</div> - <div class='line'>Of heaven. Tell us—why are we chained to earth?</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis far too gross for the immortal mind,</div> - <div class='line'>Which yearns for higher realms, and pants in vain</div> - <div class='line'>For the full measure of perfection. Oh!</div> - <div class='line'>I have gazed upon night’s starry volume,</div> - <div class='line'>Till I have read long lessons of delight,</div> - <div class='line'>And drank the raptures of another world.</div> - <div class='line'>Thought, living thought, burns to embrace the whole</div> - <div class='line'>Of those deep mysteries eternity</div> - <div class='line'>Conceals from mortal understanding; and</div> - <div class='line'>The mind speaks out, and questions every beam</div> - <div class='line'>Which falls from the bright reservoir of heaven—</div> - <div class='line'>Interrogates each plant and breathing thing—</div> - <div class='line'>Retires within itself, and calls up every</div> - <div class='line'>Faculty—sends powerful fancy forth to</div> - <div class='line'>Search through untrod regions, but spends its pow’rs</div> - <div class='line'>Unsatisfied, till it sinks down at last</div> - <div class='line'>Exhausted by its own intensity.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>O for a walk among those stars of light,</div> - <div class='line'>Where grandeur fills immensity! I long</div> - <div class='line'>To fling my soul upon the pinions of</div> - <div class='line'>Eternity, and revel in the blaze</div> - <div class='line'>Of glory unrevealed—to gaze upon</div> - <div class='line'>The light that emanates from God’s vast throne,</div> - <div class='line'>And hear the music of the rolling spheres</div> - <div class='line'>As they revolve in mystic circles round</div> - <div class='line'>The deep centre of unknown attraction.</div> - <div class='line'>Spirits of heaven are hov’ring round me,</div> - <div class='line'>And breathe sweet songs of rapture in my ear.</div> - <div class='line'>The rustle of their wings is like the sigh</div> - <div class='line'>Of leaves, when the soft zephyr moves among</div> - <div class='line'>Their quiv’ring branches. Their hallowed voices</div> - <div class='line'>Wake the eternity within me, and warm</div> - <div class='line'>Aspirations rise from my heart’s altar</div> - <div class='line'>To the great throne of Uncreated Power,</div> - <div class='line'>The wings of seraphim seem wafting me</div> - <div class='line'>In thought far through the bright and boundless ether.</div> - <div class='line'>O for the freedom of unbodied life!</div> - <div class='line'>To rove where thought ne’er ventured—where fancy</div> - <div class='line'>Halts, her swift wing wearied in its lofty flight.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>I gaze upon the stars, and drink the full</div> - <div class='line'>Glory of the midnight heavens—and breathe</div> - <div class='line'>The breath of spiritual existence</div> - <div class='line'>Till my soul beats, like a captive bird,</div> - <div class='line'>Against its prison grates, and longs to soar away, and mix</div> - <div class='line'>With immortality.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Are not the stars</div> - <div class='line'>Immortal? Do they not live forever</div> - <div class='line'>In a joy of light? Have they not looked down</div> - <div class='line'>From age to age upon this distant world</div> - <div class='line'>And watched its evolutions? Viewed its face</div> - <div class='line'>Change beneath the whelming flood—its cities</div> - <div class='line'>Sink beneath the earthquake’s shock—its mountains</div> - <div class='line'>Belch destruction—its boasted empires fall—</div> - <div class='line'>Its armies crushed in battle—its proud kings</div> - <div class='line'>Fade from earth—its ancient monumental</div> - <div class='line'>Grandeur crumble into dust? Yet they roll on,</div> - <div class='line'>Creatures of life, a beaming essence,</div> - <div class='line'>A mysterious throng of heavenly</div> - <div class='line'>Pageantry. But is there not a region</div> - <div class='line'>Far above that envious height; above</div> - <div class='line'>The stars; where beings live forever, and</div> - <div class='line'>No darkness comes; where light exists for ages,</div> - <div class='line'>Unborrowed from the sun; where storms dim not</div> - <div class='line'>Its brightness? and where rapture never dies?</div> - <div class='line'>Yes, far above the sky-bound ceiling, there</div> - <div class='line'>Is light—eternal light—joy unsubdued,</div> - <div class='line'>And everlasting life!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>Is there such a</div> - <div class='line'>Thing as sin? I feel it not. This is a</div> - <div class='line'>Holy hour. Nothing exists to me but</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven, and heaven’s pure habitants; all worldly</div> - <div class='line'>Thoughts are drowned in high communing. Is there</div> - <div class='line'>Such a thing as pain? I know it not, who</div> - <div class='line'>Oft have known it. Heaven’s high-wrought happiness</div> - <div class='line'>Is mine. This is a peaceful hour, and I</div> - <div class='line'>Could deem myself already entered on</div> - <div class='line'>Immortal ground, did not this clog of clay</div> - <div class='line'>Assure me I am yet of earth, and have,</div> - <div class='line'>Perchance, long years of pain, and wo, and sin</div> - <div class='line'>To witness, and the dark vale of death is</div> - <div class='line'>Yet unpassed by me, though ever near. Well,</div> - <div class='line'>If it must be so, welcome the hour that</div> - <div class='line'>Breaks these mortal shackles, and lets loose my</div> - <div class='line'>Spirit on the wings of life, to find its</div> - <div class='line'>Native element and long sought home, if</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven at last be mine. Congenial spirits</div> - <div class='line'>Of unknown existence! would that your forms</div> - <div class='line'>Could be perceived by mortal eyes, that I</div> - <div class='line'>Might hold sweet converse with you, and forget</div> - <div class='line'>That I am mortal.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in18'>Oh! there is that</div> - <div class='line'>Within, which tells me I was destined for</div> - <div class='line'>A higher sphere; that heaven was made for me;</div> - <div class='line'>For <em>all</em>—if we accept the gift, and mount</div> - <div class='line'>Faith’s ladder, as the word of life directs</div> - <div class='line'>This life is not our destiny; ’tis but</div> - <div class='line'>A prelude to a state eternal, a</div> - <div class='line'>Mere beginning of existence, when once</div> - <div class='line'>Begun, that ne’er shall cease to be. Life! Life!</div> - <div class='line'>What art thou <em>now</em>—what art thou doomed to be?</div> - <div class='line'>A shade; a substance; dream; reality;</div> - <div class='line'>A blessing or a curse; a moment here;</div> - <div class='line'>Hereafter an eternity! Dread thought,</div> - <div class='line'>Eternity! Eternity! My soul</div> - <div class='line'>Is lost in that vast subject, and I shrink</div> - <div class='line'>Appalled from the unmeasured time to come.</div> - <div class='line'>No more I ask to know its hidden space;</div> - <div class='line'>’Twill soon unfold to me, and I shall dwell</div> - <div class='line'>Forever in its changeless realm; no more</div> - <div class='line'>To feel emotions known on earth, or think</div> - <div class='line'>As now I think, or live as now I live;</div> - <div class='line'>’Till then, “the mysteries of fate are hid,”</div> - <div class='line'>And all lie buried in a world to come.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> -<p class='c008'><a id='ads'></a></p> -<p class='drop-capa0_0_0_4 c015'>A LADY M. D. 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M., on Mondays, -Wednesdays and Fridays.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>NO. 656 SIXTH AVENUE, NEW YORK,</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c011'>(<span class='sc'>First Floor, Rooms Nos. 1, 2 & 3</span>)</div> - -<p class='c008'>Abundant personal references given that her remedies are harmless, -and her cures performed without operation or the slightest -pain.</p> - -<hr class='c016' /> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_0_4 c015'>THE FINEST ILLUSTRATED WORK EVER ISSUED—cost -$12,000. Price $2.50.</p> - -<p class='c007'>THE LIFE, TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF FERDINAND -DE SOTO, DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI. -1 vol., 556 pages octavo 30 superb Steel and Wood Engravings, -Printed on fine paper and bound elegantly. One of these superb -Steel Plates is photographed of the $10,000 painting ordered by -Congress, worth the price of the book.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This book is indispensable to every library. Pronounced by -The New York Herald to be “the most interesting book in the -English language.” 10,000 Agents wanted to canvass for this -work, to whom we will give a district not already taken.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sent by mail free of postage on receipt of the money. Postmasters -are allowed 30 per cent on all subscribers they send us—Address</p> - -<div class='c011'>JAMES T. LLOYD, Publisher, Philadelphia, Penn.</div> - -<div class='double'> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c014'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>FALL ELECTION.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='97%' /> -<col width='2%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='sc'>State of New-York</span>,</td> - <td class='c018'>}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c017'><span class='sc'>Office of the Secretary of State</span>,</td> - <td class='c018'>}</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c019'><span class='sc'>Albany</span>, August 2, 1858.</td> - <td class='c018'>}</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c020'><i>To the Sheriff of the County of New York</i>:</p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_0_4 c021'>SIR—NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, THAT AT THE GENERAL -Election to be held in this State on the Tuesday succeeding -the first Monday in November next, the following officers are -to be elected, to wit:</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Governor</span>, in the place of John A. King;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Lieutenant Governor</span>, in the place of Henry R. Selden;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Canal Commissioner</span>, in the place of Samuel B. Ruggles, appointed -in place of Samuel S. Whallon, deceased;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>An Inspector of State Prisons</span>, in the place of William A. -Russell;</p> - -<p class='c022'>All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December -next.</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States, for the Third Congressional District, composed of the -First, Second, Third, Fifth and Eighth Wards in the city of New -York;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States, for the Fourth Congressional District, composed of the -Fourth, Sixth, Tenth and Fourteenth Wards in the city of New -York;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States, for the Fifth Congressional District, composed of the Seventh -and Thirteenth Wards of the city of New York, and the -Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Wards of Brooklyn;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States, for the Sixth Congressional District, composed of the -Eleventh, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Wards in the City of New -York;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the United -States, for the Seventh Congressional District, composed of the -Ninth, Sixteenth, and Twentieth Wards in the City of New -York;</p> - -<p class='c022'>And also, a <span class='sc'>Representative</span> in the Thirty-sixth Congress of the -United States for the Eighth Congressional District, composed of -the Twelfth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, and Twenty-second -Wards in the City of New York.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c023'> - <div>COUNTY OFFICERS ALSO TO BE ELECTED FOR SAID COUNTY.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>Seventeen Members of Assembly</span>;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A Sheriff</span>, in the place of James C. Willett;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>A County Clerk</span>, in the place of Richard B. Connolly;</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>Four Coroners</span>, in the place of Frederick W. Perry, Edward -Connery, Robert Gamble and Samuel C. Hills;</p> - -<p class='c022'>All whose terms of office will expire on the last day of December -next.</p> - -<p class='c022'>The attention of Inspectors of Election and County Canvassers -is directed to Chapter 320 of Laws of 1858, a copy of which is -printed, for instructions in regard to their duties under said law, -“submitting the question of calling a Convention to revise the -Constitution and amend the same to the people of the State.”</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c023'> - <div><span class='sc'>Chap. 320.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c024'>AN ACT to submit the question of calling a Convention to revise -the Constitution and amend the same, to the People of the -State:</p> - -<p class='c022'>Passed April 17, 1858—three-fifths being present.</p> - -<p class='c024'><i>The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate -and Assembly, do enact as follows</i>:</p> - -<p class='c022'><span class='sc'>Section 1.</span> The Inspectors of Election in each town, ward, and -election district in this State, at the annual election to be held in -November next, shall provide a proper box to receive the ballots -of the citizens of this State entitled to vote for members of the -Legislature at such election. On such ballot shall be written or -printed, or partly written and printed, by those voters who are in -favor of a Convention, the words: “Shall there be a Convention -to Revise the Constitution and amend the same? Yes.” And by -those voters who are opposed thereto, the words: “Shall there be -a Convention to Revise the Constitution and amend the same? -No.” And all citizens entitled to vote as aforesaid shall be allowed -to vote by ballot as aforesaid, in the election district in which -he resides, and not elsewhere.</p> - -<p class='c022'>§2. So much of the articles one, two and three, of title four, of -chapter one hundred and thirty, of an act entitled “An act respecting -elections other than for militia and town officer,” passed -April fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts amending -the same, as regulates the manner of conducting elections and -challenges oaths to be administered, and inquiries to be made, of -persons offering to vote, shall be deemed applicable to the votes to -be given or offered under the act; and the manner of voting and -challenges, and the penalties for false swearing, prescribed by law, -are hereby declared in full force and effect in voting or offering to -vote under this act.</p> - -<p class='c022'>§3. The said votes given for and against a convention, in pursuance -of this act, shall be canvassed by the Inspectors of the several -election districts or polls of the said election in the manner prescribed -by law, and as provided in article four, of title four, of -chapter one hundred and thirty of the said act, passed April fifth, -eighteen hundred and forty-two, and the acts amending the same, -as far as the same are applicable; and such canvass shall be completed -by ascertaining the whole number of votes given in each -election district or poll for a convention, and the whole number of -votes given against such convention, in the form aforesaid; and -the result being found, the inspectors shall make a statement in -words, at full length, of the number of ballots received in relation -to such convention, and shall also state in words, at full length, -the whole number of ballots having thereon the words, “Shall -there be a Convention to revise the Constitution and amend the -same? No.” Such statements as aforesaid shall contain a caption, -stating the day on which, and the number of the district, the -town or ward, and the county at which the election was held, and -at the end thereof a certificate that such statement is correct in all -respects, which certificate shall be subscribed by all the inspectors, -and a true copy of such statement shall be immediately filed by -them in the office of the clerk of the town or city.</p> - -<p class='c022'>§4. The original statements, duly certified as aforesaid, shall be -delivered by the inspectors, or one of them to be deputed for that -purpose, to the supervisor, or, in case there be no supervisor, or -he shall be disabled from attending the board of canvassers, then -to one of the assessors of the town or ward, within twenty-four -hours after the same shall have been subscribed by such inspectors, -to be disposed of as other statements at such election, are -now required by law.</p> - -<p class='c022'>§5. So much of articles first, second, third, and fourth, of title -fifth, of chapter one hundred and thirty, of the act entitled, “An -act respecting elections other than for militia and town officers,” -and the acts amending the same, as regulates the duties of County -Canvassers and their proceedings, and the duty of County -Clerks, and the Secretary of State, and the Board of State Canvassers, -shall be applied to the canvassing and ascertaining the -will of the people of this State in relation to the proposed convention; -and if it shall appear that a majority of the votes or -ballots given in and returned as aforesaid are against a convention, -then the said canvassers are required to certify and declare -that fact by a certificate, subscribed by them, and filed with the -Secretary of State; but if it shall appear by the said canvass that -a majority of the ballots or votes given as aforesaid are for a convention, -then they shall by like certificates, to be filed as aforesaid, -declare that fact; and the said Secretary shall communicate -a copy of such certificate to both branches of the Legislature, -at the opening of the next session thereof. Yours, respectfully,</p> - -<div class='c025'>GIDEON J. TUCKER, Secretary of State.</div> -<div class='c026'><span class='sc'>Sheriff’s Office</span>, }</div> -<div class='c026'><span class='sc'>New York</span>, August 4, 1858. }</div> - -<p class='c022'>The above is published pursuant to the notice of the Secretary -of State, and the requirements of the Statute in such case made -and provided.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Stephen H. Branch's Alligator Vol. 1 -no. 23, September 25, 1858, by Stephen H. 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