Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-03-25
The Sage of Mount Vernon.

The Sage of Mount Vernon.
No single subject i'll this land Of freedom,
has so frequently engaged the attention of emf,
nent men, and called forth such eloquent tri-
butes of admiration and respect as the charac.
ter of him who stood first in war, first in peace,
and first in the hearts of his countrymen. 1t is
one which the true American loves to contem-
plate in all the magnitude of its proportions,
and the isolation of its unequalled virtues. The
following from the pen of the gifted Editor of
the Louisville Journal, is worthy of the subject.
After brief review of the character of Washing
ton and the trials which appeared most cons
picuously in his political life, he says:
And now, after the unexampled career of
moral trepidity-after this eventful and unn-
terrupted course of popular humiliation and
denial-after having repctedly tlouted the yaunt-
ed popular wisdom, and consistently and boldly
rebuked the errors and excuses of the people,
what became of him? Did he fall as POLITICALLY
dead" as a tumble from the summit of the Capt.
tol would have rendered him physically? Did
he "go home to his constituents" and hide his
diminished head beneath their Alpine contempt
and never rejoice in the morning beams of the
faintest resurrection? Did the people s'remem-
ber' him for his incorruptible integrity, or
"mark'' him for his political fidelity and indie
pendence? Did they "lay him on the shelf"
for scorning to be either dupe or their deceiver
or " drop" him from the public eye and the pub
lie admiration, for his transcendent devotion to
truth, his country, and his God?
On the contrary, the nation folded him to its
heart, and the world resounded with his praises
And when at length he died, the peoples tears
believed his grave, enlightened mankind stood
up as mourners round his bier, and the shadows
of his great setting pierced even the sombre
haunts of the savage with deeper gloom. He
has left heritage of fame unequaled by that of
any man who has passed over the stage of his
tory, and yet magnificent and exalted as it is, it
is exactly measured by his fidelity to his own
convictions, and therein his devotion to the true
interests of his country without regard to popu-
lar applause or censure We commend his ex-
ample and his destiny to the ingenious youth of
the nation, and those public men who hare airy
CONVICTIONS and have not irretrievably betrayed
them. If theschange he effected in mankind's
ideas of political greatness was permanent, his
example is easy and safe one-f not, his
destiny is richly worth its original price.
Lusus NATUnE-A lady residing near New
burgh, in this county, says the Cleveland Plain
dealer, was delivered ola bicephalous male child
of most singular formation. 1t had two heads,
three arms and four hands. The child was not
alive when ushered into existence. The two
faces were almost alike in features. The De-
mocrat says its feet and legs were natural and
perfect The body was divided in such man
ner as to leave no doubt that it was composed Of
two bodies, which had by some cause, become
united. 1t is probable that it contained two
hearts, two stomachs-in truth, all the internal
apparatus Of two complete bodies. It is much to
be regretted, that measures were not at once
taken to remove every doubt in regard to this
matter. There were attached to the body two
heads, two perfect arms, and one arm with two
perfect hands. One of the heads was connected
with the body by neck which grew directly
behind the right shoulder; the other occupied
its natural position. The third arm was at
tached to the body just behind the two necks.
1t had two hands which were united imme-
diately above the wrist by a sort of web the
palms facing inwards, and all the fingers being
perfect. In the entire range of medical science,
this case stands without parallel 1t has al
ready excited a deep curiosity in the minds of
many scientific gentlemen. and numerous causes
have been assigned for this remarkable feat of
nature; but our limited space prevents from
giving any of the learned conjectures which
have been offered. We shall merely add that
the mother is past all danger and she positively
refused to allow the child to be dissected
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