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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.