Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-12-20
s. SprinXfelds."


rvs storehouse some of the traditions Of
the days Immediately preceding the Revo-
luton of '''7G days in which the princi-
pies asserted in that contest were discussed
in every house We referred to some of
the guests of ''Sprin gfelds" in these ambro-
sian feats-names to which the muse of his
tory has since given a celebrity little anti
cipated in those days. There was the ele-
giant and accomplished Hone, subsequently
Major General in the army of the Re, O.
luton, and who early in the struggle rem
dered distinguished service to the cause at
Norfolk, in expelling Lord Dunmore from
Virginia. For this service the Congress Of
North Carolina, then in session at Halifax,
rendered him vote Of thanks, and the re-
ply of Gen. Howe is one of the most grace
full, modest, and yet manly bursts of true
eloquence we have ever read. His social
qualities gave zest to every company in
to which lie was introduced. and the beau
ty of his manners gave a charm to his con-
versation rarely equalled any where
The ACCOMPLISHED Dr. Eustis, who address,
ed letter to Sterne, as S:ntdsm in its char
acter as the walking stick by which it was
accompanied, and was the cause of the let
ter, and which was said to be SO crooked
and eccentric as scarcely to be able to lie still
on the ground. The letter called forth
reply from the celebrated Divine as full Of
humor--we will not say us any pages of
Tristram Shandy, but as any of his sermons.
We might name, as frequent guests at
''Springfelds, Drs. Lloydand Hall, gentle
men of the highest professional reputation,
the Hon. Cornelius Harnett, VIM. Hill,
Esquire, and Col. VIM. Dry, of Whining
ton. The two last were not only personal
and intimate friends of Judge Moore, but
were connexions of his ny intermarriag es
with members of his family. The fame of
Harnett has become national, and perhaps
few of the patriots of that day infused
ventions anG Congresses Of which he was Il
member, and of which he was more than
once the presiding officer; but the people
of Cape Fear claim him as one Of their
brightest Jewels and, alas, one of the
martyrs of liberty. His heroic and
sainted ashes repose in our midst,
and fancy hears in the sigh of the
evening breeze the requiem of liberty
over her martyrs grave. The thoughts
which ere long were to fill the air of all
America, were household thoughts only, in
the times of which we speak. Moore and
his guests often preached the doctrines
which were then too bold and daring for
the cautious, and too deep and enlarged
for the superficial. Had tradition failed
to preserve some of these closeted patriots
views, we cannot doubt that they were we'll
and fully discussed long before they filled
the columns of the scope Fen' Mercury"
Family tradition has brought down, even to
our own days, the visit of Mr.. Quincy, of
Boston, and others, to ''Spring felds, when
that sterling patriot came to the South to
feel the pulses Of the great American heart
in this rural district and he able TO report
to his friends of the North, whether or not
mighty themes of the day, and his JOY at
finding brothers among strangers-men
who were ready soon after to proclaim
F' the cause of Boston is the cause of dN,"
he himself has reported in we'll remembered
words.
These feasts, spread by genius and pat
riotism to welcome wit and worth to hos
pitable halls, should have had the pen of
Boswell to preserve their memory. But
who can doubt that amid such thigh
thoughts seated in hearts of courtesy"
there were many which deserved perpetui-
t.. not less for their intrinsic excellence
than the point and grace and elegance in
which they were expressed. The attri-
ton of such minds, in such circumstances,
must have produced much of that light
which soon Illuminated our political hem
isphere. The transcendant destinations of
Moore's colloquial powers drew around him
the choicest spirits of the time, and thespot
which has been dignifed by the residence
of genius and taste, can never cease to be
an object of interest; and so long as we
shall hold in veneration 'the Conscript
Fathers" of American liberty, jSprnDfelds
will be remembered with grateful interest
General Sedgewick, who has been attract
ing some little attention by his movements
on the Rio Grande, is native of Louis
vile. The Courier says of him : ''Sedge-
wick was, before the war, clerk on Main
street, in this city, and was always looked
on as rather small potatoes
> At regular meeting of the New York
Chamber of Commerce Thursday after
noon, a memorial was read, praying Con-
gress to abolish the export duty on cotton
A resolution was adopted petitioning Gov
eminent to employ squadron of naval
vessels to make the necessary sea sound
ings for a new cable, to connect the United
States with France and Southern Europe
1t was thought that such line might be
laid from Cape Cod to Montauk Point, at
a cost of $6,000,0OO.