The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-05-20

Last fall census-taker, on tour OF duty,
stepped at an elegant brick dweling-houae on
Western Row--the exact location Of which Is
no business OF ours He was received at the
door by stiff, well-dressed elderly lady, who
could be easily recognized as widow Of some
years standing. On learning the mission of her
visitor, the lady invited him to a seat in the hall.
Having arranged himself into working posi-
ton, he inquired for the number OF persons in
the family Of the lady
Eight, sir" replied the lady, including my
self"
"Very we'll your age, madam I"
Ny age, sir" she replied, with piercing,
dignifed looK; g ] conceive it's none of your
business what my age might be--you are in
quisitive, sir"
"The law compels me, madam, to take the age
of every person in the ward; ii Is my duty to
make the enquiry"
swell, il the law compels you to ask, pre-
sumo it will compel me to answer. | en- be-
tween thirty and forty"
III presume that means thirty-fiye e
No, sir, il means no such thing; ! am only
thirtv-three years of age"
"Very well, madam" putting down the fig
ures, "iust rs you say Now for the ages of
the children, commencing with the youngest one,
if you please."
Josephine, my youngest, is ten years of age. "
Josephine---pretty name---ten.'
Minerva was twelve last week."
Minerva--ca ptivating---twelye."
cleopatra Elyira has just turned fifteen"
Cleopatra INTERCHANGEABLE
"Angelina is eighteen, sir; just eighteen"
Angelina--favorite name--eighteen."
My Oldest and only married daughter, sir,
"Twenty-fve did you say, madam q
Yes, sir. Is there anything remarkable in her
being of that age"
not remarkable that you should be her mother
when you were only eight years of age!'
About that time the census-taker was observed
broomstck. 1t was the last time he pressed a
lady to give her age.
TRADITIONAL ERRoRs.-Eyery day the la-
bors of learned men are exposing the falsity of
Evolutionary facts, and wedding history Of the
errors which seem to have been sown wide
spread in every department of human knowl-
edge. Nothing, in fact, is reliable but scientific
truth; and even many Of Them OF at least what
have passed current for such, bave been proved
false. But of all the uncertainties Of tradition
there is nothing so uncertain as the sayings Of
great men. The ueni uidi rici of Caesar and
the pithy despatch of Perry, announcing his VIC
tory on Lake Erie, are matters Of record, and
may be trusted in; but the dying words of Law
renee, don't give up the ship" have been de-
MED As for Cromwell's directions to his SOL
diers to trust in Providence and keep their pow
der dry, there is no evidence Of its Cromwellian
origin Wellington has said that he never heard
of the famous ords, sup, guards, and at 'en,
which have been currently attributed to him
ever since the battle of Waterloo, until he saw
them in a newspaper All the surviving British
officers of the tack on New Orleans, some
twenty-five years ago, published an affidavit to
the effect that the renowned watchwords, "beau-
ty and booty" were never used on that me-
morable occasion. General Taylor, too, denied
ever having said, give 'em jessy," or even q
little more grape, Captain Bragg" Some wise
acre attempted few years ago to prove that
General Putnam was a coward and bully, but
! luckily for the reputation of "old Putt" he
| found q defender in our present Secretary OF
State, who, in a mastery article in the NorH
American Reuie,o, clearly established the right
of the gallant soldier to his traditonary fame.
One of the latest and most surprising instance.
of the detection of a traditional mistake, is the
discovery by that genial philosopher, the learned
Signor Riccabocca, that Bacon is not the author
of that popular apothegm knowledge il power
that, in fact nothing of the kind ever had an ey-
stence in his writings, nor in those Of any other
philosopher. 1t is a mere psychological fungus
that suddenly sprung up once upon time, and
as suddenly became a petrifaction in mems
minds We imagine there are very few persons
in the world who will not be amazed when they
find that Lord Bacon never even heard of that
great Baconian apothegm, knowledge is power
Signor Rccabocea astonished even that erudite
Englishman, Parson Dale, by telling him the
fact, and we doubt if there be learned pun
dit" among us who will not also be astonished
TO learn it. As for ourselves, we would have
been willing to bet any reasonable sum that we
could command, that we could point out the
aphorism in Bacon's works, not that we ever
saw it there, but, having seen it so many thou
sands of times attributed to the great phoso-
pher, that we never doubted il was his property
But, as DR.. Riccabocca said to his abashed pu-
pill, that shall be warning to us never to fall
into the error of the would be scholar, and quote
secondhand. Bulwer Lytton, in his new novel
puts the matter at rest in the following note
"This aphorism has been probably assigned
to Lord Bacon upon the mere authority of the
index to his works. IL is the aphorism Of the
index maker, certainly not of the great master OF
inductive philosophy. Bacon has, it is true, re-
peatedly dwelt on the power of knowledge, but
with so many explanations and distinctions that
nothing could be more unjust to his general
meaning than to attempt TO cramp into SEN
tence what 1t cost him a volume to define
Thus, if in one page he appears to confound
knowledge with power, in another he sets them
in the strongest antithesis to each other, as fol-
lows 'Adeo, sgnanter Deus opera potentie Ell
sapientia Discriminate But it would be as
unfair to Bacon to convert into an aphorism The
sentence that d scriminates between knowledge
and power, ms it is to convert into an aphorism
any sentence that confounds them. Republic
ADDRESS TO THE PEoPLE OF South CAROLINA
We publish from the Richmond Examiner
an address from a citizen Of Virginia to the peo
Pile of South Carolina. IL will be seen that tho
action Of the late Charleston convention ha:
been quite in accordance with the suggestions
of this writer. For our own part, we had hoped
that the State would act less precipitately thar
now seems to be her fixed determination. w,
are yet to be convinced that she viii act wisely
| i'm closing her ears TO the counsels of Cheeve,