gcls_courant_009 5

THE COURANT; A SOUTHERN LITERARY JOURNAL. 69
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The Courant.
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COLUMBIA, S. C., THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 1859.
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THE COURANT.
Subscriptions for the Courant will be received at the Book-
store of Mr. P. B. GLASS, in this City, where single copies can
be obtained every week.
The following gentlemen have been appointed Traveling
Agents for the Courant:
G. W. MEETZE, JAS. S. BALLEW,
THOS. P. WALKER, W. THOS. WILKES.
Mr. MEETZE will visit Lexington and Edgefield Districts, Mr.
BALLEW, Laurens and Newberry, Mr. WILKES, Chester, and
Mr. WALKER, Richland--during the present month.
We cordially recommend these gentlemen to the kind atten-
tions and courtesies of our friends.
WM. W. WALKER, JR., & CO.
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QUEEN DIDO AND THE CRITICS.
Our readers will find an interesting sketch of the estimate
placed upon the affair of Virgil's Dido and Æneas, by the
critics.
At all events, "Willie" suggests some very apposite points
for consideration, showing that he has thought on the subject,
and carefully, at that.
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"THE AUTOCRAT."
We continue this week the able articles on Prof. Holmes'
writings. As we said before, the book has been absurdly
over-rated, and our contributor is very satisfactorily showing
wherein Dr. Holmes' failures occur. It will be seen, however,
that our critic gives all due praise to a very clever book, as the
"Autocrat" certainly is; but he shows that it is not at once
Heine and Goethe, Hood and Jean Paul, as the people of Bos-
ton seem to think.
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MESSRS. FEASTER.
We beg to call the attention of our readers to the advertise-
ment of the Messrs. FEASTER. It is no small honour to a house
to say that unadulterated liquors may be certainly procured
there; our tasting reporter says, that all the wines and liquors
at this establishment are pure, and may be used safely. We
can testify to the ale, which we have found excellent.
If you desire a pure and genuine article, by all means go to
the FEASTERS; they have the necessary experience, &c., to
qualify them for their business. We feel that the high charac-
ter of Columbia merchants will be sustained, and well sustained
by them.
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MADAME LeVERT AND MOUNT VERNON.
The Mobile papers contain an appeal to the patriotism of
Alabama, from Madame LEVERT, in behalf of the Mount
Vernon cause. Truly she has labored in this matter, not only
long and earnestly, but successfully. The Mobile Mercury
says:
"In another place will be found the appeal of the Vice
Regent for the State of Alabama, to whom this enterprise is
indebted for its success more than to any other person, except
Miss Cunningham herself. It is not merely the money which has
been collected by the immediate efforts and under the superin-
tendance of Madame LeVert; but the enthusiasm with which
she has entered into the cause, has, like the electric spark, kin-
dled a flame in every heart which she could reach by her influ-
ence, direct or indirect, and they are thousands. We are sure
that this last appeal from her will not be unheeded, but will
excite to additional efforts throughout our State and elsewhere,
which will be crowned with speedy success, and in a few
months we shall hear the official announcement that Mount
Vernon is the property and possession of the women of America,
the daughters of Washington."
By-the-way, what has become of that fine poem "The Pil-
grims of Mount Vernon," by Judge MEEK? We had the
pleasure of hearing it read by its gifted author, last winter,
and we have been impatiently waiting for its publication.--
With two such minds as Madame LEVERT'S and Judge MEEK'S
engaged in this cause, Mobile bids fair to do more for the home
of WASHINGTON than any other part of the country can do.--
In fact, if we are not very much mistaken, Alabama has
already done as much as, or perhaps more than, any State of
the Union.
By all means let us have Judge MEEK'S exquisite poem.--
His design was to have it published for the benefit of the Mount
Vernon cause, and we may say that it will be a noble contribu-
tion from his mind as well as from his heart, while the tributes
paid in this admirable production to Miss Cunningham, Madame
LeVert, Everett, &c., &c., will be the just reward of their
noble and disinterested toils in this behalf.
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HOLIDAYS.--The elysium of our boyhood; perhaps the only
one of our life. Of this truth Anaxagoras seems to have been
aware. Being asked by the people of Lampsacus, before his
death, whether he wished to have anything done in commemo-
ration of him. "Yes," he replied; "let the boys be allowed
to play on the anniversaryof my death." "Men are but chil-
dren of a larger growth," and, in this working-day country,
where we have neither half holidays enough, nor even enough
to the whole half-holidays, it might be well if some patriot
would bequeath laboring community a legacy similar to that of
Anaxagoras.
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We take great pleasure in laying before our readers, this
week, the two following poems, which are from the pen of a
highly gifted daughter of the South. She calls them "trifles;"
but they are melodious and sweet; and from her we hope ere
long to hear again:
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TO KATE.
------
Smile not so brightly,
--Why wait to hear
The voice that so softly
Is whispering near?
Cease "stolen glances;"
Those bright eyes avert;
Blush not so deeply,
Take care, he's a flirt.

Eyes so impressive
Charm you, I know;
And tones will bewilder,
When uttered so low;
But linger not near him,
For soon he'll desert
Thy heart for another's--
Beware!--he's a flirt!
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TO THE ABSENT.
------
When evening gathers round you
Her veil of spangled light,
When the dew rests on the flower,
And the moon is shining bright;
When a calm is on the ocean--
And moonlight on the sea,
When all is hushed in slumber,
Do you think, beloved, of me?

In the twilight of the evening,
In the starry hour of night,
In the dancing of the moonbeams,
O'er the silvery water bright;--
When o'er the boundless ocean
The waves are playing free,
Do you think of her who loves you--
Do you think, beloved, of me?
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"CAN'T FIND IT IN HIS MIND TO SAY WIND."
The Worcester Palladium refreshes us with the following:
"A criticising member of Biscaccianti's audience, listening
to her charming rendering of the Serenade, which commences;
"Through the leaves, the night winds stealing."
objects to the universally accepted pronunciation of the word
winds, which by common consent of teachers, &c., takes the
long sound of i, and becomes wynds. We are aware of the ar-
guments advanced in favor of the innovation; but for ourselves,
prefer the softer sound of the spoken word, which seems more
musical, more poetic. It is a good solid English word, and,
rightly pronounced, need shame no song nor singer. The idea
that English is no language for song, is fast going by; thanks
to those who inculcate the theory that distinct pronunciation
in singing any language can be attained only by diligent study
of its consonants as well as vowels."
To all of which, as relates to wind, we demur, and challenge
him to show that the pronounciation of wind so as to rhyme
with mind is an innovation, and if an innovation, how long since
it was brought into the language?
Will not some of our friends favor us with an argument pro
or con?
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SENSIBLE.
Most of our readers will doubtless see that the following is a
very palpable hit at the absurdity of having houses "too fine
for use." The following is taken from the New York Times,
and we commend it as exceedingly true and at the same time
aptly applied.
"Call in at any brown stone front, "above Bleeker," at any
time, except on the occasion of a great "spread," and it has
the air of a very nice old maid in morning gown and curled
papers--a cross between iron precision and painful desolation.
Everything exists in a state of bagginess. The sofa is a mute
inglorious corpse in a dimity winding-sheet. The chairs are
put away in aprons and pantalettes. The chandelier wraps its
night-gown around it. The shutters are closed to keep from
fading the carpets, and only here and there, through the cracks,
a little bit of sacred light peeps in and looks around, in a
tremulous and sickly way. Everything smells of brown Hol-
land, and everything looks as if it considered you fearfully
impertinent for daring to come and disturb its elegant useless-
ness and brown linen repose. It is very much like going into
a family vault after an epidemic, and having a lively time with
a party of corpses in fresh grave clothes. In fact, you feel
decidedly like asking the mistress of the house why she doesn't
complete the picture by putting up the clothes-lines in the par-
lors, and hanging up the week's wash.
Soberly, this show-shop arrangement, which makes home a
nuisance, and drives father and son out of doors for that com-
fort which their own house is far too fine to afford them, is a
growing nuisance, and lies at the bottom of half the social
evils. When a man comes home after the fatigues of business
he doesn't want a show-wife nor a show-shop house. He
doesn't want an invisible palace; but a visible home. He wants
something made to wear and use, and allowed to be used after
its kind. He wants chairs that he can lean back in; and car-
pets made to be walked on; and a house alive all over; and a
wife and children whose daily thought it how it can all be
made happiest, cheeriest, most thoroughly comfortable for him.
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LITERARY NOTICES.
"THE EXPLOITS AND TRIUMPHS IN EUROPE, OR PAUL MORPHY,
THE CHESS CHAMPION. By Paul Morphy's late Secretary.
New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1859."
The first English book was Caxton's "Game and playe of
Chesse," which was published in 1474. Typographically, it
would not be considered worthy of passing muster at the pre-
sent day, and certainly the Appleton's must have had the idea
that all other books on chess ought to be equally badly gotten
up, since this record of Morphy's triumphs is any thing else
but a "triumph" in the line of well printed or decently illus-
trated books. The "ten portraits on wood," are all of them
miserably executed, and the whole volume bears the mark of
great cheapness in the materials used.
CHESS is, undoubtedly, a noble game; it is known all over
the world, and dates back to a very remote period in the his-
tory of our race; indeed the Chinese claim to have known it
three hundred years before our era. It has always been the
favorite recreation of great minds, and the catalogue of the
devotees of this game embraces some of the most renowned of
the children of men. In all the tribes of the East, many are
lovers of this game, as they have been for generations past,
and amongst the scrupulous Mahommedans it is exempted from
the penalties attached to gambling.
But, we must ask, what are the claims of Caissa after all,
that it occupies so much of the public attention? Is Morphy
as important in this world's history as Dante or Saint Augustine,
Cromwell or Raphael? Is the record of his matches at the
Café de la Regence as important as the history of Magna Charta,
or the Revoultion of 1688, or his "Exploits," in general, worth
"Paradise Lost," "Faust" or "the Raven," or "The last Judg-
ment?" We trow not. Chess, after all this noise and excite-
ment, is at best, only a recreation; a game truly noble, but
still, only a game. Let no one suppose that Mr. Morphy him-
self, is so blinded by his love of it, as to forget that it is only a
game. He has not run wild with enthusiasm on the subject,
but he has repeatedly said, that Chess is but "a recreation, and
cannot be the object of life." Thus it will be seen that he is
wiser and more moderate than the numerous admirers of the
game, and particularly his admirers, who speak of Chess as if
Morphy's triumphs were worth innumerable Divina Comedias,
and countless Waterloos. Chess! Chess!! Chess!!! Why
the world has been talking and writing and thinking more
about it for the last year than anything, save, perhaps, the
almighty dollar, which has been duly looked after in its con-
nection with chess, as will be seen by the "wagers" of a
thousand pounds, and the "Challenge" for a match between
Morphy and Staunton for $5,000. The people of New York
did very right to present our gifted young countryman with
such a magnificent set of chess-men; but we must say that the
speeches delivered on teh occasion were supremely absurd.--
The idea of talking about Whitney, and Morse, and Fulton, in
this connection, must have fallen unpleasantly upon the ears of
Mr. Morphy. But Mr. Fuller said some other very rich things,
which we must quote:
"You, sir, have been the first to achieve the honor of an
undisputed triumph for American intellect. There is no specu-
lation or hesitation as to where you are placed. In the unpar-
alled successes where mind grapples with mind, your triumph
has not been partial, or in the least degree incomplete. Your
name is associated with those that never die.
Sir, yours is no common lot. There is no parallel to the pre-
sent proud position occupied by you. Neither in this nor in
any preceeding age, has there lived a man who could truly say;
'I am the first in my special walk or profession," and have the
whole world respond Amen. Who could ever say, "I am the
greatest poet or author, painter, or sculptor, orator or states-
man?" Even the transcendent genius of Nature's great dra-
matist, towering as it does with Alpine height above the other
heaven-piercing peaks in the world of letters, stands not alto-
gether alone.
The united voice of the civilized world will echo the sentiments
of friendship and fealty which are expressed to you here to
night, for the reason that you have adorned your triumphs by
unusual modesty, and you have succeeded, by your courtesy
and your inherent virtues, in making those who were com-
pelled to yield to your superiority, and to sacrifice a world-wide
fame, become your most enthusiastic admirers and warmest
personal friends.
I, sir, as a lover of the royal game, appreciate your tri-
umphs; but I see in them something more. I insensibly asso-
ciate you with the great names to which I have alluded, and
properly mingle yours with the fame that has been created by
their achievements. A person so young, going out before the
whole world, to the great capitals of Europe, to the centres of
old civilizations, and there throwing down the gauntlet to meet
you in mental conflict, presents a sublime picture of moral and
intellectual power that has no parallel in history. But all the
testimonials and orations which you have received, and will
continue to receive in your triumphal march to your native
city, sink into nothingness when compared with the great
moral lesson inculcated by your achievements. In the great
conflicts of mind with mind, which are to take place in this
arena of American civilization, in all time to come--when the
American youth, fired by ambition, while struggling to achieve
something great and glorious, shall find it difficult to fashion
into shape the half forged idea in his brain--in the dark hour
of his despondency he will gather renewed courage for the con-
flict; he will catch the inspiration of hope, and grasp the cer-
tainty of success, when he asks himself--"Did not Paul Mor-
phy, by the power of his unaided genius, render easy what was
considered impossible, and not rest content until he had laid
the world at his feet!'"
After this preposterous piece of nonsense, let us hear the
sensible remarks of the "lion" of the occasion. In the
course of his reply, Mr. Morphy said, in a style which renders
ridiculous, all these exaggerated and inflated compliments, on
such grounds.
"A word now on the game itself. Chess never has been and
never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged
in to the detriment of other and more serious avocations--
should not absorb the mind or engross the thoughts of those
who worship at its shrine; but should be kept in the back-
ground and restrained within its proper province. As a mere
game, a relaxation from the severer pursuits of life, it is deserv-
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