The Georgia collegian. (Athens, Ga.) 1870-current, October 29, 1870, Page 5, Image 5

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Athenian Correspondence. Athens, Ga., Oct. 19th, 1870. Messrs. Editors :—Having arrived in your City on the afternoon train and being a perfect stranger, after securing a room at the Hotel, and getting a refreshing evening meal, being attracted partly by the loveli ness of the night and partly by a de* sire to know something of the topos graphy of modern Athens, 1 started out for a stroll. After wandering for some time through the gas lit streets, which, by the way, were not very brilliantly iigbted, and enjoying the weird appearance with which moon light clothed the scene, my attention was attracted by a crowd moving to wards a church. Still willing to grat ify my curiosity I entered the church and soon found the occasion of the vast concourse of people was an ans ticipated wedding. After spending some time in anxious expectation, the arrival of the bridal party was announced, and immediately all eyes were turned upon them with an idly curious gaze. Taking a more phil osophical view of it, I began thinking of how disagreeable it must be to feel that one’s self is the cynosure of all eyes and a subject of free criti cism. But looking with admiration upon the train of attendants, I found realized in the spectacle before mo the most glowing accounts I had hitherto heard of Athenian beauty, for truly, such transcendant loveli ness never adorned earthly creatures as beamed from this beauteous throng. Particularly was 1 struck with the appearance of one among the cluster of beauty, one whose countenance seemed ever radiant with the light of heaven, far gentler than the first rose tint of morn, or aurora’s brow, and milder than the fading light on an evening scene, whose eyes, bright “ebon orbs” of truth, seemed to send forth in every glance, love’s divinest charms, and each moment to tell the fate of some unknown worshiper. To find aught so pure as to bear comparison, we must indeed look to heaven. As she passed out I heard my own senti ments of admiration whispered throughout the crowd. She was with justice, styled by all, the Sov* ereign Queen of Beauty. Though a stranger I felt as though I could with true sincerity kneel at her shrine and breathe vows of living devotion. — With such feelings as these, I leave Athens much loathing to leave. Yours truly, Visitor. P. y,—By way of designating the above mentioned young lady, she was second bridesmaid. V. ...Prof, Homer B. Sprague, former ly of Cornell, has accepted the Pres idency of Adelphic Academy, Brook lyn, N. Y., at a salary of SG,OOO. — Home Monthly. THE GEORGIA COLLEGIAN. LOCAL ITEMS. ...The Law School is wellattended, consisting of two classes, Junior and Senior; the latter of which have a moot Court on every Saturday, which is visited both by the students and citizens. ...The street railroad is now oppo site the Deupree building; with vvbat anxious expectation do wo await to see it completed—when the people of the city will be benefitted with the great convenience of a street car. ...We have to announce to our read-, ers the sad news of the bad defeat of our “Nine” at the Atlanta Fair— upon whom we had centered such bright hopes and anticipations— thinking beyond a doubt, they cer tainly would take tho prize, and re turn to resume their College duties in great delight, as the brag nine of the State; but quite to the reverse, only nineteen to seventy-two, was the result of the game. Too much confidence in themselves ; they ought to have practised more and been bet ter prepared. ...We noticed several of tho old gra duates on a visit of a few days. Mess. Hughes, Meldrim and Rucker— whose faces seem as natural and fa miliar as ever, which calls to our mind many, many that graduated with them, who, as they, are busily engaged in a combat with the moro stern realities of life. ...On Tuesday evening, the 18th inst., Mr. Ciias. Hill was married to Miss Carrie Hughes —both of Ath ens —in the Episcopal Church, by the Eov. I)r. Mitchell. To those who witnessed the ceremony, it is need less to say the bride looked lovely; but to those who wore not present, wo would say, the array of beauty displayed both by bride and brides maids, was such as only Athens can boast of. Notice !—The Phi Kappa Library will be open on the follawing days: On Monday, from sto 6P. M. On Saturday, from 11 to 12 A. M. P. H. Mell, Jr., Librarian. ...Mr. James Thomas, Jr., of .Rich mond, subscribed $5,000 for the en> dowment of Richmond College, a Baptist Institution. Instead of pay ing his subscription, according to tne proposal of the Trustees, in State Stock, he generously, nobly, laid out the whole amount in stock, and then handed over to the Treasurer SIO,OOO in State bonds. ...Three things to love—Courage, gentleness and affection. Three things to bate —Cruelty, ar rogance and ingratitude. 11 The Greatest Goose that ever Gab bled on a Green.” Are tbore no fops save the kid gloved, cravat-choked, little legged exquisites? Yes; there are intellec tual dandies who dress and crimp and trim their thoughts. Os all the fancy millinery which they with female ex travagance, bestow upon their ideas, the most disgusting article is allit* eration, an insane notion of making successive words begin with the same letter. Many of our students love it, “ not wisely but too well.” Quis, the able correspondent of the Augus ta Chronicle , severely blamed the Junior speakers, last commencement, for this contemptible word trickery. Alliteration was born in what Dickons quaintly styles the Middling ages. Its low birth is a good argu 4 ' ment against it. The worthless rhymesters of the Middle ages wrote such affected lines as these : Propter<ea properans, Proconnul poplite prono. The preachers of that period, with ungodly affectation, gave such names as these to their sermons: Crumbs of comfort for the chickens of the covenant; sighs of sorrow for sin ners; biscuits baked in the Bible, carefully conserved for the chickens of salvation; seven sad sobs of sore sorrow for einuing souls, or Peniten tial psalms of the princely prophet David ; Iluinnis’s handful of honey suckles. Wilson, tho first rhetorician of note in Great Brittain, thus caris catures alliteration, “ pitiful poverty prayeth for a penny, but puffed pre sumption passeth not a point, pam pering bis paunch with pestilent pleasure, procuring his passport to hell pit, there to be punished with pains perpetual.” In a modern pen nyaliners attempt to rescue himself from deserved oblivion, wo find the laughable line, “ Round a rugged reck the rascals ran.” Hon. B. H. Hill has been heard to say that “ the orator should use lan guage as a means, not as an end.”— Now if an audience notices that a speaker has artfully alliterated his phrases, the thought will como up that ho pays more attention to his language than to his ideas, and he can produce no conviction, for detec ted art is always distrusted. But if an audience does not notice the allit eration, why all the labor spent on it, is wasted. Either horn of the dilemma impales tho alliterator. In antithesis alone, alliteration is legitimate. Thus, in a recent work, “ the girls of the period think more of their bonnets, than their brains.” Thus in Emerson, “ tho fungus under foot, or the lichen on the log,” or where ho speaks of model farms that “ look more like they were cultivated with a pencil than a plow.” Or this, “ die and endow a College or a cat.” Who then is the greatest goose that ever gabbled on a green ? The man who avails himself of “ apt allit eration’s artful aid” to string to gether a long train of words simply because they begin with the same letter. Book Notices. Bullions & Morris' Latin Grammar , (Sheldon & Cos., New York, Publish ers.) We declare without hesitation that this grammar is the best. That Andrew’s & Stoddard’s work, which contains everything that is un impor tant and omits much that is very im portant—should bo used at this Uni versity and at Emory College, is to us a matter of wonder. Why, the last named grammar does not even give a full paradigm of the four con jugations, and tho number of nouns declined is strikingly insufficient.— These useful exercises are doubtless crowded out, in order to make room for whole cart loads of valueless ob> servations, which the authors reck lessly empty upon the pages. Prof. Waddell himself has set a noble exn ample to Grammar-makers in his work, by discarding the multifarious exceptions and remarks with which other books are loaded. We hope he will either soon prepare a Latin grammar liko his Greek, or will dis card this work of Andrews & Stod dard’s, which is stuffed with details and trifles that Horace and Cicero never dreamed of; and adopt Bull ion’s, which has fished out from Latin literature, the pearls of its construes tion, leaving out all the trash, the sea weeds and the mud. Shaw's Manual of English Liter a ture, (Sheldon & C 0.,) is superior to any book of the kind, that we have seen. The shades of Chaucer and Spenser may rise up to bless the in dustrious and appreciative editor. — The work has these two advantages. Ist, the authors of less importance are noticed in small type, and thus greater prominence is given to tho most prominent writers. 2d, the re view of English literature extends up to the beginning of tho war; thus criticisms are passed on modern authors. Tho sketch of American literature affords instruction which we believe can be found in no other book. University of Virginia. —Prof. Charles S. Venable has been elected Chancellor of tho University of Vir* ginia, vice Prof. Maupin resigned.— Southern Presbyterian. ...Tho erection of a largo hotel and resturant is contemplated by the authorities at Harvard University for the accommodation of such stu dents as may desire to avail them selves of its advantages. —College Herald. 5