The North Star (Rochester)/1848/01/14/Miscellaneous
MISCELLANEOUS.
An Indian a Free Person of Color.—It has been decided in one of the Courts of Charleston, that a person of free Indian descent, unmixed with negro blood, is a free person of color, and therefore an incompetent witness. This decision is in opposition to the practice which has hitherto obtained in the courts of South Carolina; free Indians and the descendants of free Indians, in amity with the State, having been always regarded as competent witnesses of the superior courts.
Mineral Discovery.—An extraordinary mineral, pronounced by geologists to be pure tripoli, has been discovered in this country, and is now being manufactured by a company formed for that purpose. For cleaning the surface of glass, or removing the oxide from metals, it is certainly without an equal. Windows can be cleansed with this article with one half the labor that is required with water, and the work is done much more effectually.
Chinese Physician.—The Spanish government have recently imported into Havanna some 500 expatriated Chinese, to work as negroes. Among them is a physician who judges of disease solely by the pulse. Such is said to be the practice of the family in the "central flowery land," they feeling the pulse in the temporal artery, in the wrist and ankle The governor of Cuba gave him a license to practice, and he has been doing an immense business. Every one pays $2 who even enters his house, and on some days he takes nearly $200.
Afraid to Learn.—It is related that Galileo, who invented the telescope with which he observed he satellites of Jupiter, invited a man who was opposed to him to look through it, that he might observe Jupiter's moons. The man positively refused, saying, "If I should see them, how could I maintain my opinions which I have advanced against your philosophy?"
This is the case with many; they will no hear truth, for fear that the arguments which they have framed will be destroyed, and they may be obliged to give up their vicious indulgences.
A Word.—Say not a word you had better leave unsaid. A word is a little thing, we know, but it has stirred up a world of strife, Suppressing a word has saved many a character—many a life. A word unuttered, and Hamilton would have lived the pride of his country. Who can tell the good or bad effects of a single word? Be careful what you say. Think before you speak, and you will never be mortified with yourself, or cause a thrill of pain to flash through the heart of a friend.—Albany Knickerbocker.
Negro Ambassadors at the Court of France.—Messrs. Ardonia and Delva, men of color, presented to Louis Philippe, the the King of the French, on the 19th October letters accrediting them as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary of the republic of Hayti to France, for the exchange of ratification of the convention of 15th May last.