The South Carolina Legislature has passed a bill declaring unlawful all contracts for the sale of articles for future delivery. Speculation in cotton never received a harder blow than this. If some of our legislatures in northern states, say New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, should adopt such a law, and then enforce it, what a torpedo it would be among speculators in oil and grain, and stocks of all kinds.
One of the students in the University of Berlin, Germany, is 69 years of age. The aged members of the C. L. S. C. find themselves in the fashion. Our motto is a good one: “Never be discouraged,” not even in old age.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union celebrated its tenth anniversary on December 23. We are told that this organization numbers 100,000 members, and that they are scattered all over the land. Here we find the cause of the stir and hubbub in the country on the temperance question. It began in the Ohio crusade, among the women. They used prayer and religious songs and earnest entreaties, flavored with the spirit of Christianity, and they have won; yes, they have won the grandest victory of which mention is made in history for temperance and our unfortunate fellow men. Celebrate the return of the anniversary of the crusade. Do it with songs and shouts of joy, and continue to work till the end.
We find the following summary of an interview with Whittier in the Sun: “Whittier said that Hawthorne, Emerson, Longfellow, and himself had always been friends. There were no jealousies, and each took a pride in the work and successes of the others. They would exchange notes upon their productions, and if one saw a kindly notice of the other it was always cut out and sent to him. Hawthorne was by the others regarded as the greatest master of the English language. Whittier describes himself as unlike any of the rest, for he never had any method. When he felt like it he wrote, and neither had the health nor the patience to revise his work afterward. It usually went as it was originally completed. Emerson wrote with great care, and would not only revise his manuscript carefully, but frequently reword the whole on the proof sheets. Longfellow, too, was a very careful writer. He would lay his work by and then revise it. He would often consult with his friends about his productions before they were given to the world. ‘I was not so fortunate,’ says the Quaker poet. ‘I have lived mostly a secluded life, with little patience to draw upon, and only a few friends for associates. What writing I have done has been for the love of it. I have ever been timid of what I have penned. It is really a marvel to me that I have gathered any literary reputation from my productions.’”
So large a number of the complete sets of The Chautauquan for 1880-1881 have been received by us that we withdraw the offer made in the January issue of the magazine.