The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1855-04-26
WlistelIaneous Stems.

IHE ALCE OF CREST 1REES.-lhe remarks
which follow are credited to Dr. Hawks, and are
worthy the earnest and serious attention of eve-
| ry benevolent and patriotic mind.
| "Civilization uses vast amount of wood,
although for many purposes it is being fast SUI
perseded but u IS not the necessary use of rood
that IS s,ceeping oaoay the forests Of the United
| States, so much as its ,c0nton destruction We
should look to the consequences of this Pales-
tine, once well-wooded and cultivated like a
garden, is now a desert-the haunt of Be-
douins; Greece, in her palmy days the land of
laurel forests, is now desolate waste; Persia
and Babylon, the cradles of civilization, are
now covered beneath the sand of deserts, pro-
duced by the eradication of their forests 1t is
comparatively easy to eradicate the forests of
the North, as they are of gregarious order
one class succeeding another; but the tropical
forests, composed ofinnumerabe varieties, grow
ing together in the most democratic union and
equality, are never eradicated. Even in Hin.
dostan, all its many millions of population have
never been able to conquer the phuniX-life OF
| its tropical vegetation. Forests act as regula-
tors, preserving snow and rain from melting and
evaporation, and producing a regularity in the
flow of the rivers draining them. When they
disappear, thunder-storms become less frequent
and heavier, the snow melts in the first warm
days of spring, causing freshets, and in the fall
the rivers dry up and cease to be navigable.
These freshets and droughts also produce the
malaria, which is the scourge of Western bot
tom-lands. Forests, although they are at first
an obstacle to civilization, soon become neces-
sary to its continuance. Our rivers, not having
their sources above the snow line, are depend
ent forests for their supply of water, and it is
essential that they should DO preserved"
|
FEARS OF INsURRECTION.-"O Our fears are
traitors" exclaims King Richard; and Ham
let, in his grand soliloquy, asserts that "Con.
science doth make towards of US ALL" Our
neighbors of Cambridge, Maryland, as well as
those of Talbot county, have grown fearful of
their negroes, and are no doubt as uncomforta-
bic rs though there were real cause of fear, of
which we have not the slightest suspicion
The Cambridge Democrat, of the 18th of April,
says:
"The rumor that the colored population of
the Eastern Shore were going to rise in arms
against the whites during the Easter HOLIDAYS
created considerable excitement among our
citizens, particularly the female portion Our
officers have been very busily engaged for sew
eral weeks past in searching their houses and
|
possession, which is all right and proper, rs the
law prohibits negroes from keeping guns, with
| out permit from the court, we believe.
| "Should the negroes attempt to revolt against
| the whites, it would result to their great disad-
vantage and destruction. There are some col
ored persons in our community who are indus
trious and honest, we believe, but there are a
number of worthless, lazy rascals, who would
sooner steal than work for a mouthful of bread
they eat"
1t is not impossible that the white people
might be divided off into two such classes also.
SLAVERY, DRUNKENNESS, AND MURDER-The
Holly Springs (Miss.) Times asks
"When will men learn that whisky in no wise
aids the slave in doing his work "a"
This question is suggested by tragic occur
renee related by that paper, whether more
properly attributable to liquor than to the
tyranny of Slavery, the reader may Judge We
quote the account given by the Times:
"The hands belonging to Mr.. Childess, near
Wyatt, Mississippi, were engaged in rolling
logs, and, as is too commonly the case, liquor
was in requisition upon the occasion in con-
sequence of which, negro became somewhat
intoxicated. At dinner time, the overseer d.
rected him to take young mule which was in
the field, to the house. The negro mounted the
mule without saddle or bride, started off in a
gallop, and was thrown and hurt. The over
seer directed him not to return to the field af-
ter dinner but when he came back himself he
found the negro already out there. He asked
the fellow why he had disobeyed his orders, in
reply to which, the slave gave him insolent Ian
guage. The overseer ordered him TO cross his
| hands, in order to be tied for chastisement
The slave pretended to do so ; but, as the over
seer approached close to him, he stabbed him
with a knife, which he had already open, and
| concealed in his sleeve. This done, he ran and
| mounted his masters horse, which was hitched
in the field, galloped to the house, armed him.
self with pistol, which he kept, and fed to the
woods.
"He was Immediately pursued with dogs.
| AS he heard them approaching he attempted to
shoot himself but the ball only made flesh
wound about the head. Failing in this effort,
reached him, he was dying. Mr.. Waldrop, the
overseer, was stabbed in the breast, and died
| Immediately"
In the Baltimore newspapers, obituary notices
are generally Gagged" with the following
| lines:
Dearest -, thou hast LEFT US
Here thy loss deeply feel;
But 'ts God that has bereft us
He can all our sorrows heal.n
In the name of the deceased is the only va
ration ever made in this stanza. The piety of
the sentiment is unexceptionable but we think
it time for some of the clever poets of Baltimore
to give expression to it in a new form Of words.
GRATITUDE OF SLAvEs.-Two male slaves of
the late MIR. Brice B. Brewer, of Annapolis, were
manumitted by him previous to his recent death.
the orphans court of Anne Arundel county, and
stated that they, and their mother, who had also
been manumitted, desired to serve Mrs. Brewer,
their late masters widow, until she raised her
youngest child, and therefore wished to be bound
TO her for ten years. and it is stated they appear.
Al