gcls_courant_026 5

THE COURANT ; A SOUTHERN LITERARY JOURNAL. 20
The Courant.
COLUMBIA, S. C., THURSDAY, OCT. 27, 1859.

THE COURANT.

Subscriptions for the Courant will be received at the Bookstore
of Mr. P.B GLASS, in this City, where single copies can
be obtained every week.

The office of the Courant has been removed to No. 144 Richardson
Street, over Flanigan's Shoe-Store.

WM. W. WALKER, Jr., & Co.

Dr. Lieber.

We publish to-day, on our sixth and seventh pages, a portion
of Dr.LIEBER'S admirable "Introductory Lecture." Like all
the writings of the illustrious professor, it is characterized by
deep thought, wide learning, and great logical consistency.

Susan Archer Talley.

In our last number the many-sided "Barry Gray" found
reason to express his surprise that MISS TALLY'S works were
not in book-form. He only uttered the distinctly-felt opinion
of hundreds. But now, Messrs. RUDD & CARLETON, of New
York, announce her poems as forthcoming. We trust that the
publishers will employ the proper means to make the book
known, and possible to be bought. We are sure that every one
who reads it, will be forced to speak of it, and with admiration.
She has rare gifts, this MISS TALLEY, and we predict for her a
world-wide reputation.

The Southern Litarary Messenger for October

Has arrived after a long delay. Still, it comes in good
season-- just after we have done reading the other issues of
the month, and always before the arrival of the next monthlies.
This number contains a goodly variety of original and
selected matter. But the "Editor's Table" and the book
notices are by far the most observable features of the magazine.
This issue has a very searching, but at the same time
appreciative, critique of "Henry St. John."

Mecklenburg Fair.

We return our thanks to P.J. LOWRIE, Treasurer, for a complimentary
card to the Mecklenburg Agricultural Fair. Much
would we like to visit this old birth-place of Freedom : we fear
that our miserable health will not allow it. However, we sincerely
hope that the Fair may be, in every way, quite as successful
as its promoters can desire. Immense good is accomplished
by this annual coming together of practical people, and
it is wise to cherish all such exhibitions.

St. Agnes

"Quelqu'un" writes again to ask a question, which we
should have answered by a private note, had he not informed
us that others are quite as much in the dark about it as he is.
"TENNYSON and you," says Quelqu'un, "have each written a
poem on St. Agnes. How is it that Tennyson's poem can say

"Deep on the convent-roof the snows
Are glittering in the moon,"

whereas St. Agnes lived long before Convents were heard of?
How is it, that when he says nothing of maryrdom, while you say
nothing of her having lived in a Convent ?"
This confusion we had occasion to explain before. It arrised
from the fact that our poem celebrates St. Agnes, the martyr, in
the persecution at Rome, under Dioclesian; TENNYSON com-
memorates the Abbess of great sancity, who died in 1317; she
is usually known as "St. Agnes of Monte Pulciano." She
was a remarkable woman in many respects, and doubtless her
history attracked the eye of the poet, on account of her very
wonderful piety. Quelqu'un will find a full account of the
Saint of Mt. Pulciano in the Breviary and the "Lives of the
Saints." As for the information concerning St. Agnes the martyr,
see the works of St. Ambrose, sermo 48, St. Augustine and
Prudentius.

A Slight Mistake.

One of our contemporaries says : " A translation of the plays
of Shakespeare has been the occupation of Victor Hugo, in his
melancholy exile."

The translation has already been published, and extensively
noticed. It is not by the great VICTOR HUGO, but by his son.
It is said to reproduce the spirit of Shakespeare far better than
the older versions, some of the absurdities of which we published
some time since--absurdities quite as great as the rendering,
in the translation of "Guy Mannering," of the phrase,
"the prodigious Dominie," "un ministre assassin."

"It is sweet to be remembered," and particularly so by the
happy who are not too happy to forget their friends! We have
smacked our chief-editorial lips over some of the bridal cake of
our young friends whose happiness is chronicled just below.
May Heaven shower its richest blessings on them!

Married, by the Very Rev. T. Bermingham, on the 11th of
October, at the residence of Dr. John H. Burt, Edgefield District,
S. C., JAMES A. DOZIER, Esq., to MISS SARAH MARY A.
ROPER, both of Edgefield.

HERR APPELLES has recently arranged several American
melodies, as marches, for the West Point military band.

[COLUMN 2]

TO "C," of Charleston.

Our correspondent "C" sends us a very sensible letter from
Charleston, and one which we would glady publish, except
for the fact that it is anonymous.

We can not, under any circumstances, publish articles which
are unaccompained with the author's name.

Books.
One of the most tantalizings things in this world, to us, is to
go into the stores of Mr. GLASS or Mr. TOWNSEND and keep
our resolution not to break the Commandment which forbids
"to covet any thing that is thy neighbours." The new
editions of old authors are tempting, the new books, hot from
the press, the stationery, the pictures -- which is not much recognized
here yet-- and say if the niggardly publishers will not
send us our justly-earned property, we will buy none of thei
books, but thanking God for what we do get from PETERSON,
whose print will blind your eyes, and EVANS of the "Mammoth-
Gift Concern," we will make our booksellers blush by reviewing
"The Life of Davy Crockett," or " Three per Cent. a Month"
DERBY & JACKSON send us many admirable books, such as
"Beulah," "From Dawn to Daylight," "Sylvia's World,"
"Miss Slimmens' Window," etc., etc., while about once a month
we get a stray volume from the HARPER'S SCRIBNER or REDFIELD.
Why don't the publishers wake up? If they were all
as penurious of Messrs. "TOWNSEND, publishers of Cooper's
novels, who go into mourning whenever they invest a volume
in a critical notice, we should not be surprised. Gentlemen
publishers! the people in this section of the world—in this
"province"—buy and read books, and some of them read our
critiques; so pray quit sending us blood-and-mud stories—we
will neither read nor notice them—but send us sensible books,
as DERBY & JACKSON do, and we will promise you perfect criti-
cal justice.

The Schiller Festival in New Orleans.

From the True Delta we learn that the Germans are making
ready to celebrate SCHILLER'S Centennial with extraordinary
pomp. We have hopes to see a worthy commemoration of the
great aesthetician-poet in Columbia. A man who does not
feel SCHILLER cannot feel any thing; so let us have a great
feste.

"The President of the Schiller Festival Commitee, has
placed before us the following information in regard to the
coming fête; On the evening of the 9th November, the great
drama of the poet, the "Robbers" is to be performed, conclud-
ing with an appropriate after-piece. The place of representation
is not yet selected. On the morning of the 10th (the
centennial birth-day) a procession is to move to Odd Fellows'
Hall, where addresses in German and English are to be delivered.
And, on the evening of the 11th, there is to be a grand
concert at Odd Fellows' Hall, conducted by sixty musical
artistes and sixty choristers. A bust of Schiller, moulded
expressly for the occasion, will then be crowned, the prize prologues
read, and the prize awarded to the sucessful author."

"PERSONNE," of the Saturday Press, we think may be very
safely said to "have a style of his own." Read the following
excerpt from the last number:

Your sensible man—to whom a "subject" is as necessary as
to a dissector—is always a bore; while as for sensible women—
why, under favour of the fair sex, I never saw but one in my life,
and Page's "Wenus" forbid that I should ever see another.

Sense, in fact, is good for nothing except to aid us in grub-
bing after what Branch calls the "insensate mineral."

And what do Feuilletonists and Poets care about that?
Ask Personne.
Ask Aldrich.
Ask the Undersigned.
I know that the Oldest Man can't see this; but the Oldest
Man can't see any thing. He is all can't; or rahter, he is what
Shakespeare calls
—a purblind Argus,
All eyes and no sight.

He can't see Cortesi.
He can't see Geraldine.
He can't see (or didn't) the Aurora Borealis.
He can't see the Great Eastern.
He can't see (who but Yeadon can?) the great "Orator

Patriot, Sage, Cicero of America, Laudator of Washington,
Apostle of Charity, High Priest of the Union, and Friend of
Mankind"

And now he is preparing not to see Speranza and Sam
Cowell !

Pauvre Aveugle !
He sees nothing but the American Eagle, the Star-Spaangled
Banner (not Bonner) and The Saturday Press.
Perhaps the latter has, at last, made him.

Blind from the excess of light !

But after all, "there is none so blind" ( I wonder, though,
if this hasn't been said before) " as those who won't see"

And the Old Man won't even go to see—the old land-lubber!
But I am right, in this matter of sense, whether the Old Man
sees it or not.

The world is too sensible by half. This "rush of brains to
the head" will be the death of it.

John Brougham ruined his last comedy simply by puting too
much sense in it.

As though you could make a Ruling Passion out of sense.
Nonsense!
Sense never did rule this world ("since gentlemen came
up") and never will again.

If it should, we should all become idiots in the flower of our
youth.
Some of us have, as it is.

[COLUMN 3]

"Calhoun and his Contemporaries."

From the Mobile Tribune we extract the following :

REYNOLDS ON CALHOUN.—We publish a Supplement this
morning, containing a comparison of Jefferson and Calhoun,
from the concluding chapter of the second volume of "Calhoun
and his Contemporaries," by Benard A. Reynolds, Esq., of this
city. This volume contains sketches of Gen. Hayne, Gen.
Hamilton, Mr. McDuffie, Dr. Thomas Cooper, Hugh S. Legare,
Wm. C. Preston, Robert J. Turnbull, Judge Wm. Smith, Judge
Andrew Pickens Butler, Col. Pierce Butler, Henry L. Pickens,
Gov. John L. Wilson, Col. Sammuel Warren, Maj. James Hamilton,
Capt. Richard Bohun Baker, Dixon H. Lewis, and others.
The sketches of Hayne and Hamilton occupy the entire chapters,
and may be called biographies, rather than sketches. Most of
these notices, it will be remembered, appeared in this paper in
the year 1853. The early companions of Mr. Calhoun—
Lowndes, Cheves, and Gen. David R. Williams—are described
in the first volume, which embraces the period from Mr. Calhoun's
birth to the time when he became a member of Monroe's
Cabinet, as Secretary of War. The second volume, which concludes
with a comparison of Jefferson and Calhoun, extends
from 1817 to 1833, when Mr. Calhoun, as a Senator, defended
South Carolina against the powerful combination which had
been arrayed against her by Gen. Jackson and the Northern
manufacturers. In addition to the personal sketches already
mentioned the second volume has a parallel of Madison and
Monroe, in which the author endeavors to portray the eminent
character and great services of the last-named statesman.

"As we said afew days ago, there is a necessity for a consecutive
history of the life and acts of Mr. Calhoun. He is our
representative man—a grand man, whose wisdom is demonstrated
as the years roll by. His history ought to have been
written long ago, and would have been, if the gentleman (Mr.
Cralle) deputed by act of the South Carolina Legislature had
not, by his procrastination or incapacity, stood in the way of a
more zealous and ready writer."

Mr. REYNOLDS writes to the editor of the Tribune to mention
that some points had been omitted, which might have been
used in the comparison of Jefferson and Calhoun.

"For instance," he says, " they differed as to the policy of
the Monroe doctrine, Mr. Calhoun condeming its promulga-
tion at the time by Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Jefferson favouring it,
the latter being its undoubted author, as any one will perceive
who is familiar with Randall's Jefferson. They differed again
on the embargo, the non-intercour and the non-importation
acts. These restrictive measures were condemned by Mr.
Calhoun. 'What shall we gain by restriction? he asked 'The
memory of Saratoga and Eutaw is immortal, but what will history
say of restriction? These points were omitted in the
present publication for the sake of brevity."

Apropos of this work we will present our readers with a very
masterly sketch, by Mr. REYNOLDS, of Jefferson and Calhoun.

These eminent statesmen, standing in the clear, calm light of
history, reveal traits of character which are strongly marked.
Mr. Jefferson was a studen all his life. Mr. Calhoun is reputed
to have discarded books at one period of his life, as injuri
ous [ maganize was a bit folded] to the reasoning faculties. He was
a great talker, being equally great in his conversation and his speeches.
Mr. Jeffer-son was exceedingly agreeable in conversation, but was unequal
to the task of public speaking. When the Committee from Congress waited
on him, and informed him of his election to
the Presidency, he attempted to reply, but failing, he dropped
into a seat and wrote his answer. Mr. Calhoun's conversations
were something more than is generally understood by that
word. "He comes from lecturing in the Senate" said Miss
Martineau, "to lecture at his fireside." They both abstained
from contributing to the newspapers. Mr. Jefferson never
having, as he says, written an article for the papers in all his
life ; and Mr. Calhoun is believed to have reversed the rule in
a single instance only, when, over the signature of Onslow, he
engaged in a controversy with John Quincy Adams as to the
powers of the Vice President. In point of morals, it might be
said of them, as Jefferson remarked to Lafayette of Monroe,
"you may turn their souls wrong side out without their exhibiting
a blemish to the world." In point of style, as writers,
they were distinguished for graceful elegance, glowing fervour,
and graphic power of grappling with the mightiest arguments.
In power of thought and analysis, Mr. Calhoun was not only
superior to Mr. Jefferson, but to all the writers of his time,
including the authors of the Federalist. This opinion will be
sustained, we fancy, by any one who reads the criticism of
Calhoun on that work in his essay on the Constitution of the
United States, particularly where he treats of divided sovereignty,
Alexander Hamilton having asserted that the powers
conferred on the Federal Government by the Contitution
were partly national and partly federal, which Mr. Calhoun
denied; thus proving that the framers of the Constituion did
not really comprehend its character in all its phases and
aspects. The style of Mr. Jefferson is to be found chiefly in
his letters, and that Mr. Calhoun must by sought in his
speeches and occasional reports to Congress when Secretary of
War, and to the Senate when a member of that body, for his
private letters have not been published in the edition of his
works. But if Mr. Calhoun's mind was more analytic than
that of Mr. Jefferson, yet the mind of Jefferson was far more
copious than that of Mr. Calhoun, for he was a general scholar,
and thoroughly imbued with all the scientific attainments of
the age. His letters abound in disquistions on every variety
of subject, from poetry down to politics, and even touches on
the construction of chronometers, as well as Greek particles.
It is really amusing, as well as interesting, to read his correspondence
with John Adams—the one eighty and the other
seventy-five—and about the construction to be placed on certain
Greek sentences, the theme being pursued by both with the
zealous adour of two rival school-boys. That was the era of
encyclopeadias. The French ideologists, whose theory comprehended
the circle of the sciences, had given an impetus to
knowledge in every portion of the civilized world, and the
encyclpeadias were to be found in every library. Hence the
affluence of scientific learning which we discover in the works
of that day, and hence it is that Mr. Jefferson, who was himself
what is called an ideologist, acquired so much knowledge
of the sciences as to be regarded even by learned men as a
wonder and a marvel.—Mobile Mercury.