Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1854-09-02

his own country as a common sailor. Having gra-
dualy risen to the post ofsecond mate ne came as
such to Philadelphia, where he remained and open
ed a tavern on the banks of the Delaware for sucn
of his countrymen were engaged in the West IN
dia, trade, particularly that with st. Domingo Inc
revolution in st. Domingo caused an emlgraEoil
which continually brought him fresh customers and'
having built some small vessels bring his fugitive
countrymen away in safety from the island, he par.
tered flour and meal for coffee, until his captal,
which had been scarcely worth mentioning at hrst,
gradually increased and enabled him to oulld lar,
ger vessels and end his spirit of enterprise IN all
directions His frugaity bordered on aVarlce. oall-
ors fare was to him best and the feighting OF YES
sells his favorite pursuit The success which attend
ed his exertions at length became unexampied; Tor
he never had his ships insured, but always chose
skul-and experienced captains, thus saving hmself
the heavy expense of taking out insurance policies,
and continued acting this principle gradually IN
creasng his capital more and more until 1t had hnal
| ly sweled to an enormous amount 1lhterate as a
| French common sailor must needs be- and scarcely
| able to write his name, he called all his ships
after the great authors of his native country, and
thus enjoyed the sensation of beholdng the Ameri-
! can flag waving above Montesqueu, a Voltare,
| Helvetus, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. His ships,
which he in the habit of sending successfully to
the island of Mauritus at that time the Isle de
France, to Calcutta and Canton, and each OF which
cost from forty to sixty thousand dollars, brought
back cargoes worth from one to two hundred thous-
and dollars to Philadelphia, and thence to Europe,
particularly to Mcssrs Hope & Co., at Amsterdam,
! and never insured. Remarkable good fortune
|
not one of his ships was ever lost captured. 1t
will be easy to form idea of the amount of capital
accumulated by this saving of insurance premiums,
| when one reflects that the latter went high
| from ten to fifteen, and even twenty per cent.
Girards right hand man was countryman of his
named Robcrjeot, who, however had received his
mercantile education entirely at Hamburg, under the
utelage of Professor Busch. This Robereot was the
only whom he and then, and only
and then, took into his especial confidence, and he
had worked in house Of Girard for respectable yet
very moderate salary, during the lapse of twenty
years frequently something said about increas-
ing it, but nothing of the sort was ever done. Ro-
berjeot, who had some desire to be taken of in
his old age resolved to let his patron know that if
he desired to keep him any longer, he must take
that matter into serious consideration, and give him
a handsome sum, that he might put aside and turn
to good account. Girard, little nettled by this,
piled that he would give him ten thousand dollars,
but Roberto demanded sixty. He was told to wait
until the next day, when, without hearing another
word in relation to the matter, he received what he
asked for-siXty thousand dollars.
Magnanmous Girard could be in many things.
he was, the other hand, equally petty in many
others Of his numerous relatives in France, who
were all poor peasant folks, he would never hear
syllable mentioned. When of them upon one
occasion ventured to the and visit him
in Philadelphia, he Immediately sent them away
again, with rifing present In one particular in
he exhibited unusual hard-heartedness. His
captains had received the strctest orders not to bring
either strange goods passengers or letters back with
them. One of his ships returning from Bor-
deaux, and through another, which had hurried on
before it, he learned that it conveying him some
relations of his passengers; he instantly sent to
Newcastle, on the Delaware, where the ships COM
ing in from usually touch, order to the cap
TAIN forbidding him to land any passengers, but to
remain at that point until another had been procur
ed to take them back to Bordeaux, when he might |
come up to Philadelphia with his cargo. The cap |
tain then replaced by another person. He how
ever, made an exception in favor of two nieces the
orphaned daughters of brother who had died in |
IJn oil fhaSa pirI to
and gave one of them permission, along with some
twenty Thousand dollars, to marry the brother of
General Lallemant, who had emigrated to America |
upoE the restoration of the Bourbons after the bat
tie of Waterloo. In his will he bequeathed to the |
other an equal sum.
The Raleigh Standard thinks it probable that the !
next Legislature will create all additional Judicial |
Circuit at the last session it appeared to be much
needed, and the impression is, it would have been |
done then but for heavy pressure of other bust |
We favor this proposition One additional Judi |
cal Circuit, ut least, should be created. The State
in extensive and the present arrangement of the |
Circuits entails such degree of labor upon the |
Judges, that surprised that this matter has
remained so long unattended to. There are seven
Judicial Circuits altogether. The first second and !
third Circuits, composed of ten counties each
the fourth of twelve; the fifth and seventh of thir-
teen, and the sixth of fourteen counties The Su-
peror Courts, all know are held twice in each
year. besides special terms being constantly held
that in the administration of the public justice
the Judges absent from their homes by far the
larger portion of their time. The Circuits embrace
too wide of counties-the labor is too ex-
haustng upon the Judge, who whatever maybe his
ability and desire to expound the law correctly and
administer Justice to parties, becomes wearied with
the extent of the duty before him, and may from
this fact be impaired in the exercise of his high
office. We have frequently heard the Judges speak
of our own Circuit the ffth in especial degree
exhausting and onelous indeed they are ALL
The compensation allowed the Judges is also rid-
culousy small. They receive 81 $50 year. and for
this they travel over the State, holding Courts pay
ing their expenses, devoting their whole time
and constant study to the acceptable discharge of
their duties. We suppose by strict economy these
public officers may out of their salaries as much
families. The whole system is wrong principle.
1t is of piece with that niggardly idea which per-
vades the law of salaries and fees in this State We
starve our Governor and hence should starve our
Judges too We believe in the doctrine of procur-
ing the best talent and paying literally for it. The
compensation allowed the Judges ought to be sufi-
GENTLY large to place them above the reach of want
to render them independently free them from the
annoyances of business. When we reflect how very
important is the Judicial office-how necessary to
the honor and dignity of the State that the Bench
should be occupied only by pure, learned, able men,
and how the inevitable effect of system of made
quate compensation is to drive from the possession
of these offices men every way qualified to add dig
nifty to the station but whose worldly circumstances
are such, that they cannot afford the honor of the
position it will become manifest, I'VE think that
the present system is erroneous, and that in this
gard, to use a common expression, g penny
wise and pound foolish" The life of Judge is one
of labor. 1t is constant study. The Law isa stu
pendous science, and he can master its PRINCIPLES