Though no advocate for Lynch law, we cannot but marvel that, in the breasts of Englishmen, that misdirected sense of justice which is at the bottom of all such illegal acts, should be so entirely wanting; and, as the purpose of the "Times," in its appeal to the draymen, is to arouse this feeling, and make a power of public opinion, we heartily agree with it. We must, however, dissent from the writers in both of these journals, when they advise recourse to corporeal punishment. You cannot lash a man into a sense of his error; you but degrade and brutalize him the more. Let the axe be laid to the root, begin with his moral nature. Educate him; elevate his character by teachings from the pulpit and school-room; take away his disabilities; teach him to respect himself, and he will soon learn to respect others. The hardened sinners who now pollute the earth by such misdeeds will, ere long, be called to their great account. Let England see that the generations now rising do not follow in their footsteps.
Our Friends.—A Happy New Year to all who are with us this glad morning. The Old Year has passed away, and with it much that we loved is gone. Let us hope the coming year will bring us many opportunities of doing good—and that God will assist our feeble endeavors to improve the time as it passes. Then the Year will be happy indeed.
Editors' Table-Drawer.
Original and selected articles are before us in such profusion, as we open this wonderfully capacious receptacle of scraps and MSS., that the difficulty will be to stop when we once begin arranging this mosaic of literature. However, we have the year before us, and every month will require its pictures and precepts. Here are a few.
Mystery.—In the beauty of form, or of moral character, or of the material creation, it is that which is most veiled which is most beautiful. Valleys are the mysteries of landscapes.—Lamartine.
Unjust Acquisition.—What do we mean by unjust acquisition? It is not to be measured by its extent, but by its principle. Unjust acquisition is to take what is not your own; and who does that more than one of those poor gin drinkers, who has sold his morsel of bread to buy his own destruction, and then thinks another ought to be forced to replace it?—Mrs. Marsh.