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Lat. 12 (leg. 4 min. 18 sec. N,, Long.
07 deg. 38 min. 30 sec. E., was mark
ed over his shop front, and lo ! sud
denly, was pricked into my flesh with
red hot needles, and rubbed in with
gunpowder by the skipper’s sooty
hand. Was it dreaming or waking, or
losing one’s senses that awful night,
which has never slipped my memory
like things of lessor moment or of la
ter date?
Surely it was something more than
chance that woke me with a start at
three o’clock in the morning, and set
me bolt upright in my hammock, sta
ring in the darkness before me; set
me listening for unusual noises, too,
and fancying I could detect them —
strange, rustling noises to the right,
where an old seaman’s chest and some
coils of rope were stowed. An old
dream, with the tingling sensation of
the tattooing experienced therein so
preter-naturally acute, that I passed
my hands to my side, and then to my
arm ; to make quite sure that the lati
tude and longitude of the seal island
were not ingrained there. What a
heat was I in, to be sure ! 110w r strange
that was, also, for the nigh,t was cold,
and I hod gone shivering to bed three
hours since. Then an awful thought
made me fall hack in my hammock,
and clinch both hands to my heart to
stay its leaping. My brain was dis
turbed by the dream, and this weakness
was unaccountable, unless—l touched
my side again, then my arm—good
God ! I was bleeding to death. I felt
sure of that now by my faintness, by
the slow current of life-blood from my
side —some important vein, perhaps
more than one, had broken, or been
opened .
Yes, opened, I felt sure, in a syste
matic manner, by one not wholly un
skilled in surgery. I should be a dead
man in a few minutes, perhaps—if I
could only find the spot from which my
life was ebbing! I tried to compose
myself, to think I might live on some
Lours, or till someone came to my as
sistant' •. I called for help once, and
shuddered with- horror at the weak
tones of my own voice. Then I sat
up, and listened once more to the
croaking of the ship, the soughing of
ing; and then
I turned my eyes again towards the
dark cornet beneath me, where I
feared someone was still lurking, wait
ing for my death to steal away an 1
no si ;a. Oli, for a light! —my
heritage of forty pounds for one half
: ittering c m 113. Oh ! for
the tread of the watch overhead that
I might be sure someone was near to
help me. I called again, then listen
ed. Was it fancy, or was there a
rustling to the left, where the seamen s
chest stood ?
““ Yftio’s there ? Fsucllr
fife ?”
I had drawn with difficulty my old
pistol from, beneath the pillow, and
was looking over my hammock into
the destiny beneath. It was a happy
thought, that pistol ; if I could pull
the trigger, and if the pistol would go
off when the trigger was pulled, the
report might bring the crew to tny as
sistance. I would fire at the chest :
if no one were there, there was no
harm done-; and if a person were con
cealed, he was my murderer.
•‘Speak, or I flic ! \\ ho’s there ?”
My hand trembled very much, and
my life was drifting away so rapidly,
that there was little time to lose. No
'answer. I pulled the trigger, and the
sharp click of the lock was the only
result. What a struggle it was to
cook the pistol again; L had never
worked so hard in my life ! Once
again I would give a chance to my
shadowy enemy in the corner.
“ Who’s there ?”
No answer; and with my remaining
strength I pulled the trigger again.
A quick flash, a loud report, followed
bv a heavy fall across the chest, a
scuffle r of feet overhead, and then
the liuie crew tumbling rapidly down
the ladder, one holding aloft a lan
tern.
“What’s the matter? Who fired?
Who’s hurt.?”
“ Something to stop this blood,” I
gasped, “ I’ve' been murdered ! See
to the man across*the chest; who is
he ?”
“ The skipper, bv all that’s holy ?”
exclaimed the man with the light.
“ Is —he —dead ?”
Before an answer was returned, I
had fainted.
When I recovered consciousness, six
hours afterwards, 1 found myself tight
ly bandaged, and a rough nurse of a
sailor keeping watch.
“ Belay there .! we’ve stopped the
blood; ye’ll do if you keep quiet.”
“ And the skipper ?”
“ All about him afterwards; there’s
time enough?”
And in good time I learned that
skipper Shrink lived but half an-hour
after I shot at him from thehammock.
They had picked him up with a lancet
in his and carried him to his
little cabin. He was dying when they
took him down his cabin stairs; but
he made signs for water, and then for
brandy, and sent the men for a mo
ment away on those errands when he
was lying in his berth. When they
came back he was dead. A note
book lay open at bis side, and a piece
of paper, on which several figures had
been written, was tom in half a dozen
pieces, and left upon the quilt that
covered him.
And those figures I have not re
membered correctly to this day.—
Once, in telling my story to the sailor
who waited on me ..in my illness, and
served me well and kindly, I have
sometiimjs fancied the true figures for
a moment passed my lips, for I saw
that man in his carriage three years
since, and heard that he had become
suddenly rich, and that no one knew
much about the means. Did he find
Shrink’s Island, I wonder ? Perhaps
so. Some men step into fortunes
strangely, and some men are always
going down the hill, despite windfalls
in the shape of forty pounds—despite
the friendly hands stretched out to
help them on their journey. The
journey has been long and hard with
me, and lam old and grey. This is
a tale of many years ago.
0\ A liKOREI) CIIUIiKPf.
All honor to the cook, wherever born,
Who first a chicken on the gridiron laid—
Sprend-ertpUd, like some land-lubber forlorn,
Stretched on the rattlius till his footing’s paid.
A plump, sprint pullet, done an amber brown—
Not singed or crisp ■ ! —distilling ichor rare,
And seasona l wisely 1 Never glided down
The throat of mortal more delicious fare!
I love to sniff, in winter, in ray bed,
The appetising incense upward rolled
From the broiled bird, with butter lightly spread
A savory message mounting through t'.ie cold.
No need of hell or gong tf* bid me rise ,*
For, were I slumbering on a bed of rose,
The scent would wake me with a sweet surprise,
And down to breakfast lead me by the nose.
The Old Men of Meriwether.
BY VIVIAN.
NO. I.
Less than fifty years ago these hills
and dales were the hunting grounds of
° qt
the Red Man—where he walked in
his native grandeur and majesty.—
Perhaps a lonely wigwam or the soli
tary hut of a Government Agent was
the only shelter from the storm and
tempest, and the hardy pioneer .who
now and then steered his course West
ward, at the close of day had to rest
for the night upon the bosom of the
virgin earth with the vault of heaven
for his covering. No sound of the
axe or hammer, nor furrow of the
ploughshare marked an era of dawning
civilization. The -deer skipped o’er
his native plain a beautiful specimen
of untamed agility and life. The
wild bird nf the forest sang his gentle
anthem unmolested, and in each peace
ful strain warbled the music of the
Father of Song.
How changed to-day ! The poor In
dian scarcely .lives in memory of man
—an occasional arrow head gathered
IgyJMb plomghm remind us of his
once bold ari<t*Ji|?tfioas spirit as jae
e<?heeu his "terrific warhoop in wild*an
nimosity to the cruel intruder. The
huntsman has long since driven away
or butchered the noble stag. The
forest has been felled. The state
ly mansion rises on the spot where
stood the rude hut—tffie gleeful, soul
stirring song of the negro has
I succeeded the wild shriek of the
j savage. Towns and cities occupy
I the battle grounds of the untamed war
rior ; Schools and Colleges have be
come essential, and Churches, within
which to worship the “Great Spirit”
rear their lofty spires to heaven. The
busy hum of life is heard all around,
and our people are industrious, intelli
gent, sociable and happy. Perhaps
it may be pleasant to contemplate the
characters of the “ Old Men of Meri
wether,” who have lived and labored
and sank finally to rest in its bosom—
who have influenced its destiny and
been the modest, unpretending agents
in our prosperity and happiness. We
do not seek our distinction in poetry,
divinity, politics or physics; but to that
stern old hardy spirit of humapity
that dictated economy and honesty
pay our homage. The world is too
prone to estimate the characters of a
people by brilliant transactions. A
modern philosopher has well asked,
“ Which was the greatest innovator,
which was the more important person
age in man’s history ; He who first led
armies over the Alps and gained the
victories of Connie and Thrasymene;
or the nameless boor who first ham
mered out for himself an iron spade ?”
Battles and war tumults which for the
time din every ear, and with joy or
terror intoxicate every heart, pass
away like tavern-brawls ; and, except
some few Marathons andriMorgartens >
are remembered by accident, not by
desert. Laws themselves, political
constitutions arc not our life, but only
the house wherein our life is led ; nay
they are but the bare walls of the
house; all of whose essential furni
ture—the inventions and traditions
and daily habits and sup
port our existence are the work not of
Dracos and Hampdens, but of Phoe
nician mariners, of Italian masons and
Saxon Metallurgists, of Philosophers,
Alchemists, Prophets, and all the long 1
forgotten train of artigts and artisans ;
who from the first have been teaching
us how to-think and how to act, how
to rule over spiritual and over physical
nature. Well may we say that of our
history the more important part is
THE GEORGIA WEEKLY.
lost beyond recovery; and, as thanks
givings were once wont to ho offered
‘for unrecognised mercies’—lot us look
with reverence into tho dark unten
anted places of the past, wherein
formless oblivion qur chief bouefaetmu
with all their sedulous endeavoA, 1 nr
not with the fruit of these, lie en
tombed.
To keep in recollection the noble
bearing, the untiring energy, and
above all the Christian principles in
culcated and exemplified by the “ Hid
Men of Meriwether ” shall be the ob
ject of these sketches.
One of the most remarkable men
who first came to Meriwether was Col.
Alf. Wellborn. He was born in Wilkes
county Nov. 29th 1793, a native
“ heath” he was always proud to own
as a spot where many of Georgia s
most gigantic spirits first saw the light,
lie was the adopted son of Maj. Sam
uel Wellborn, a hero of the Revolu
tion who sue tabled a#d transla
ted to his son the honored principles
of freedom and justice. Alfred re
ceived a good scholastic education and
studied Law with Col. Long, in the
days of the eccentric Dooly; but
never practised his profession.
He married Elizabeth Terry, Oct.
Iltli, 1820, daughter of Marshall
Martin. In a few years he moved to
Monroe county, and in the Fall of
1827, after Meriwether was laid out,
he moved into the neighborhood of the
Warm Springs. His family consisted
of a daughter a wife of extraordinary
business capacities, great persever
ance and industry, and trifew negroes.
He soon began to prosper and accu
mulate wealth, and by his ateady lim
its and good judgment, with his ur
bane and gentle manners, rose urithe
esteem and confidence of his numer
ous friends and acquaintances. The
people soon called him to represent
them in State Council, a duty which
he.performed faithfully a_nd honestly.
twenty years' he .devoted all his
energies to.the emtiyaxian of his farm
.4— not forgetting the duties he owed to
hfi-family, to the interest and welfare
•of hisY'ounfry, nV the obligations he
his Maker. Dec. 9th 1848 that
\»li destroyer that withers all human
hones lay prostrate the wife and mo
ther, broke the family circle, and. left
the father and children in anguish :md
sorrow.’ UWT VJS#
horn became sad and comfortless ; and
ever afterwards exhibited feelings of
/he deepest melancholy.and loneliness.
The world with its distinctions, honors
and wealth. lost -much of its charin
and a fervent religious sentiment actu
ated every emotion of his soul. He
; had long boon attached to the Metho
dist-Church and sustained its tenets
with lively faith and commendable
zeal. He felt that time was fast bear
ing him along its stream, and occa
sionally an attack of a Cardiac affection
warned him to prepare to meet his ap
proaching fate. lie arose in feeble
health in the morning of Dec. 9th,
1857, ate heartily at breakfast walked
out into the garden, and returning
expressed himself “well euough/o ride
to see his ‘people,’ over at the farm.
His son having ordered his carriage
and horses, he rested himself in
an easy chair, and requested to see a
book from the library. Col. Cochran,
his son-in-law, wished him rr6t to fa
tigue himself and desired to read for
him. After a few sentences Well
born’s head gently reclined upon his
bosom and his spirit quietly fled to its
peaceful home in the skies.
- “We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”
Col. Wellborn was tall and Command
ing in stature; features rather sliwrp-,
aquiline nose, high forehead, grey
eyes, rather broad chest, exhibiting to
a great degree a sanguine temperament
with an extraordinary vital endow
ment. His mental capacities were pe
culiarly developed. Possessing good
observation and full calculation, with
large “cause and effect,” he laid his
plans well and always had the energy
and perseverance to execute them. —
He accumulated a handsome fortune ;
for in 1829 his taxable property wa s
only six lots of land and twenty-three
negroes —amount paid $lO 54 cts. for.
tax. In 1857, the year he died, his
estate consisted of 242 slaves, 5,272
acres of land, valued at two hundred,
and thirteen thousand five hundred and
seventy-one dollars. He never seem
ed to be in a hurry, or the least exci
ted under the most trying circum
stances —always cool and deliberate,
keeping up with his business no matter
how late or how early the hour. In
his intercourse with the world he was
the high-minded, honorable gentleman
of lofty spirit and noble bearing. In
life he was respected and appreciated
for his sound, practical, common sense;
his firm, unyielding integrity, his quiet
unassuming manners, his constant de
votion to right; with an indomitable
energy to mature and effect plans to
gain an honorable distinction among
iris fellow-men. He never made a
lompromise with tho world to screen
him from its difficulties and obligations
but prudently “ acted his part well,’
without murmering or discontent. Ho
made no munificent bequest to any
charity; but used his means to his own
personal necessities and for the pleas
ure and comfort of his own family.—
It is a little strange that a man who
had traveled so over the country, who
had such an extensive literary ac
quaintance, and had seen arid known
the wants of society did not leave an
endowment to some institution of
learning that would have handed down
his name to posterity as a public ben
efactor. He was hospitable and kind
in his house, paid his dues to support
of Church and State and never per
mitted the pohr to suffer in his com
munity ; but modestly relieved their
necessities. An indulgent father, a
kind master, a staunch friend, a good
citizen, his memory is dear to those
who knew him best.
After all this, the world can never
know the man. Pen and pencil, are in
adequate to delineate his spiritual na
ture. Our own Granite Mountain
may be measured in geometric feet
and the diagram truly represent it;
yet how pale, thin and ineffectual do
the great figures we would fain sum
mon from his life rise before us ; for in
the dim distance and by the eye of
imagination our vision, do what we
may, is/oo imperfect. Ilia life is an
example worthy of imitation, and those
who were permitted to view it as it
daily made its impress upon society
should cherish it as a rich legacy.
Parentage of Jefferson.
The following, from the pen of Hon,
D. P. Thompson, wc find in the edi
torial columns of the Green Mountain
Freeman :
“ The circumstances of the union
from which sprung the illustrious Am
erican statesman, Thomas Jefferson,
have, never, we think, except in such
general termg as would convey: no def
inite idea of their peculiar character,
•yet reached the eye of the public.
Rut having reached them from the
ag. > .fn WTHtI. “JefFe rsoTq du -"
ring a former sojourn in Virginia, and
being well convinced of their entire
truth, we will venture to relate them
for the amusement of our readers.
Mr. Jefferson’s father was poor, .but
an industrious and intelligent mechan
ic; and, as society was constituted in
Virginia, he was wholly excluded from
the ranks of the aristocracy, and
could have had no hope of forming a
family connection with them, but for
the’following incident:
One of the proud and lordly Ran
dolphs, wishing some repairs to be
made upon the doorsteps of his man
sion, and having heard of the expert
ness of the young carpenter, Jefferson,
who resided in the same parish, sent
for him to come and do the work. In
'this family there were several beauti
ful and accomplished daughters, who
were the acknowledged belles of that
part of the country; while one of the
sisters was so far behind the rest, ei
ther in accomplishments or the facul
ty of showing off to advantage, that
she was subject to mortifying neglect
by the young men who thronged the
establishment, being generally left at
home while her more favored sisters
were taken off for the constant rounds
of parties and pleasure excursions in
vogue among tho wealthy families of
the place. It was during one of these
instances of neglect that young Jeffer
son happened to be at work on the
steps, and the respectful attentions he
then had an opportunity of paying
the slighted girl, so strongly affected
her with the contrast with those she
hud been accustomed to receive from
all other gentlemen who were admit
ted to the house, that her actions soon
revealed to the quick eye of the am
bitious young mechanic, a condition of
heart that he thought he might im
prove to advantage. And, acting on
that belief, he perserved, and So well
profited by his opportunities, that
within a few days a mutual engage
ment was formed, and a runaway
match concocted and carried into ef
fect. There was, to be sure, a terri
ble rumpus kicked up by the proud
Randolph when it was discovered that
one of the family had disgraced it
and herself, as they esteemed it, by
running away with, and marrying a
poor mechanic. But, finding there
was no help for it, and learning, upon
ipqiiiry, that tho young man was as
smart as he was bold, they at length
recalled the truant daughter, wdth her
husband, installed them in the fami
ly, and gave them their patrimony.
From this match sprung, we believe,
two sons and several daughters, apart
of whom, like Thomas Jefferson, the
subsequent Statesman and President,
strikingly inherited the intellectual
characteristics and enterprise of the
father, and a part the quite ordinary
and commonplace traits of the mother.
An unwelcome cup —the hic-cup.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6.
Salutatory.
In September last we issued the
first number of The Georgia Weekly ,
in Atlanta, and continued its regular
publication until the Presidential elec
tion in November ; at which time the
political excitement became so intense
as to seriously injure every kind of
business, and especially that of peri
odical literature.
At that time, to our great chagrin,
we were forced to suspend; yet with
a firm determination to renew the
publication of The Georgia Weekly
at some future time, either in Atlanta
or elsewhere; for the notices of brother
Editors, both in the North and the
South had, with one contemptible ex
ception, been unusually fluttering and
encouraging.
Simultaneous with the suspension
of The Georgia Weekly , we were
honored by the Trustees of the Fe
male Masonic College, in being elect
ed President of that Institution.
Having accepted the post, wo found
Greenville, the Capitol of one of the
wealthiest counties of Georgia, with
out a newspaper of its own, and there
began to agitate the matter with every
introduction.
The unanimous encouragement, with
the material aid of many, we met has
re-aminated the drooping gazette ; and
once again, though somewhat changed
in style and character, The Georgia
Weekly is launched upon the perilous
sea of newspaperdom—devoted now,
as then, to the advancement of South
ern interests and Southern Literature.
Many may deem the times most un
propitious for the permanent establish
ment of a sheet like ours, and argue
that the circumstances under which
we labor in the undertaking are too
adverse to success to be grappled, with
any fair hope of emolument or repu
tation ; but we are stimulated to the
trial by our warm-hearted and gener
ous friends in Meriwether county, and,
in fact, in every part of Georgia.—
Nor does the hope of gain or name
hold a less firm seat in our heart,than
a modest desire to do all that lies in
our power to do, as a Georgian for
Georgia.
The Georgia Weekly will be a true
literary paper, so far as its circum
stances of place and advantages shall
allow ; yet its columns shall be free
for the discussion of all topics of
county and State interest, and closed
against all personal and political bick
ering. For it is our aim to establish a
sheet whose existence shall be a pride
and a credit to Meriwether county, at
least; and we feel justified in affirming,
that whatever may be or is a credit to
Merriwether county, is the same to
Georgia—in herself the Empire State
of the South.
It is true that no iron-lipped herald
sounds to us the news of the day, and
it is as well here, in the first paper
ever published in this county, and by
the first type ever set in Greenville, to
avow, that- as we have, come here to
live and build up a permanent home,
in our native and well beloved State,
we are resolved •to live long enough,
with Heaven’s aid, to hear and see the
“ Iron Horse,” as he speeds among
the hills and dales of Merriwether.—
When the proper season shall have ar
rived to agitate this most important
matter, the use of The Georgia Weekly
shall be eagerly extended to every
man, woman and child that may de
mand the sheathing of red clay, rice
or cotton soil in Railroad iron.
But grave topics now demand the se
rious and anxious attention of all
Southern men; and the general wel
fare of the South is so justly exact
ing that time and labor would be wasted
in discussing tho subject at present.
The position we assume in being
neutral in politics, as is the plain pol
icy of a literary sheet, does not deny
us the right to give the current politi
cal news of the day, and we shall en
deavor to keep our readers well in
formed of the latest and most impor
tant intelligence, both foreign and
domestic.
To the Public.
We respectfully solicit the patron
age and subscription of all who read
this number of The Georgia Weekly.
We shall endeavor to improve and
enlarge our paper, and to make it a
welcome friend in every Southern
home. At the same time we desire
literary contributions from our readers,
that The Georgia Weekly may pre
sent an interesting page to every eye.
All who desire to continue the pa
per will please notify us, and send in
their names with an accompaniment. •
An Appeal for Southern Liter
ature.
It is time that the Southern people
should have made a Southern Litera
ture ; as strong and graceful, as en
during and brilliant as any of those
mental stars that stud the literary
galaxies of other nations.
The genuine Southerner possesses in
himself every requisite for the forma
tion of a unique and original style.—
His calumniators cannot deny that he
is gifted by nature with a nervous and
fiery imagination, and extraordinary
powers of conception, which his ante
cedents prove have ever been held
within the bounds of admirable con
trol, by practical sense and a thorough
knowledge of propriety, made his own
more by intuition, than from schooling
or the experience of others.
In addition to this, perhaps the
rarest of mental boons, tho Southern
er is nature’s orator, a man eloquent
by instinct. The most brilliant and
thrilling orations ever uttered by man,
whether efforts of the instant or the
labored elaboration of hours, have
emanated from Southern hearts. The
generous warmth of his native sun
heats his thoughts for those elegant
and expressive styles in which they
bound, all aglow, from his gifted
tongue.
He is no less a politician and states
man from nature, or by bis surround
ings ; and the well informed even of his
defamers, confess the preponderance
of Southern political genius in the
great deeds of the American people,
both in field and forum.
He stands yet inferior in the world
of letters, and the fact is his fault
—not his defect.
This is true only on this side of the
Atlantic ; for in the history of the
Old World the reader cannot fail to
see, that the magicians of prose and
poesy, wielded their pens of magic
beneath sunny skies and amid South:
ern homes. The Romans, Greeks,
Latins, Spaniards and French, from
whose imperishable works of the
brain, the vast bulk of English and
German literature has been plagiarized
lived in latitudes whose climate ap
proximates far more nearly to ours
than that of the Tkorth to whose- in
tellect tfye So atlty.no long has paid tun
worthy homage-
Homer, Virgil and Horace, the
princes of poesy, were Southerners
of Europe. Cervantes, Boccacio, Le
Sage, Moiiere, the princes of wit, were
Southerners of Europe. Heroditus,
Plutarch, Aristotle, Archimedes, Pla
to, Socrates, Demosthenes, Cicero,
Cresar, Juvenal, princes of history,
science, philosophy and oratory, were
Southerners of Europe.
Many years may pass ere a similar
royalty of intellect shall be claimed by
the Southerners of the late American
Union ; but the times seem auspicious
for establishing such a mental dynasty.
And as stern facts of this day declare,
that for all future time the South shall
be her own political master and crite
rion, let the people keep step to the
music and make themselves freemen
in literature, education, invention and
progress.
Let them encourage her own poets
and talent of every degree and style,
and no more force her gifted pens into
the letter paid service of the North.
From this appeal let no one con
ceive that wc taoitely admit any real
superiority in the literature of the
North,nor in Northern intellect, wheth
er in the composition of a history, bi
ography, novel or poem. We assert
that Southern apathy alone has crush
ed Southern genius; that Southern
dependence has waited for Northern
approbation' and thus forced its .tal
ent to idleness or dissipation —and
who will deny that the dissipation of
many literary men is a doom created
more by want of encouragement of
mental effort, than by any taint of
constitution.
A taste for home literature must be
made in our beloved South, and we
appeal to our countrymen, in the name
of that host of talented Southerners
now toiling for Southern reputation,
to shake off, forever, that contemptible
apathy of the rnind and taste which has
so long dragged them at the chariot
wheels of Northern approbation.
NOTICE.
As many of the former patrons of the Green
ville Masonic Female College have heretofore
complained of the difficulty of finding board for
Jheir children, the President of the College res
pectfully gives notice that he has rented the
large and commodious building known as
Campbell's Hotel, and is fully prepared to board
pupils at as low a rate as can be obtained any
where.
All entrusted to his care will be faithfully at
tended, and find all the comforts and advan
tages of a home. WM. HENRY PECK.