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VOL. I,
mis sjirassii
is published, every Friday morning, in Macon, Ga. on the follow
ing
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These sales must be held on the first Tuesday in the month, between
l he hours of ten in the forenoon and three in the afternoon, at the
tdourt House in the county in which the property is situated.
The sales of Personal Property must be advertised in like manner for
ty days.
Notice to Debtors and Creditors of an Estate must be published forty
’days.
Notice that application will be made to the Court of Ordinary for
Nave to sell Land and Negroes, must be published weekly for sou
iXonths.
Citations or Letters of Administration must be published thirty days
—for Dismission from Administration, monthly , six months —for Dis
hiissinn from Guardianship, forty days.
Rules for foreclosure of mortgage, must be published monthly, for
four months —for establishing lost papers, for the full space of three
months —for compelling titles from Executors or Administrators where
bond has been given by the deceased, the full spare of three months.
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warded.
OFFICE on Mulberry Street, East of the Floyd House and near the
Market.
€\)t left's Comw,
IDOLS OF LODE,
No. 2. *
THRENODY.
(.1 Lament on the Death of my little Boy.)
BY T. 11. CUIVERS, M. I).
“I will complain in the bitterness of my soul-” —Job vii. 11.
All! gnzul-oyed was my Tommy,
Tommy, Death hits early slain,
Tommy taken early from me !
AVh* we sweet life did so become me,
That his death doth now consume me—
Parching up my heart with pain!
All ! gazel-eyed was my Tommy—
Never coming back again!
llow I miss him in the summer,
Summer of the Goldi n Grain—
Hummer w hen the dove doth murmur
For the mate that is torn from her—
Sighing out to each new comer
All her heart’s melodious pain !
Waiting all the livelong summer
For his c tilling book again !
Early frosted Flower of Aiden,
Aidcn w here there is no pain
Aiden where the soul lives laden
With the joys that are unladen—
Saintly Lily, infant maiden,
Ada of my heart of pain!
Tliou art with him now in Aiden—
Never coming back again!
Ah ! the world was desolated,
Desolated with the slain !
Desolated, damned, death-fated—
Buried with him, desecrated—
Dismal, doleful, doubly hated
By my soul doomed no,v to pain !
It would all be renovated
At his coming back again.
Like the glorified Orion,
Blest Orion who was slain !
Bright Orion who lives high on
High Eternity’s NJountZiou —
So my little Christ did die on
This dark Calvary of pain !
Like the glorified Orion—
Never corning back again !
For the Georgia Citizen.
REVE.VLIN'GS OF SADNESS.
Oh! dread is the power that cheeks our joy
When it gushes heart-glad’ning and free,
That darkens our sky with clouds of despair,*
In the moment and hour of glee.
I’ve sat and listen'd to the moaning wind,
As it wander'd my rose branches through—
Despoiled of their summer beauty and grace,
By Antnnm's frost-bliglit and mildew.
Anl thoughts were awaken'd too deep for the ear,
Too saddening for picture or pen,
In depths where none but the spirit doth see
Waves on that shore e’er hid from our ken.
Brief visions of life in palace and hall,
Where soft music and wine floxveth free—
Where lips wearing smiles doth vainly conceal
The misery that haunts us in glee.
Yon cottage, all lone on desolate moor,
* Beameth bright with the sunshine of love,
For its light hath made those poor peasants one,
And points to bliss never ending above.
Oh! life hath many a tale to impart
Os beauty and grandeur brought low,
Os rare gifted minds that slowly decay
’Neath fires that on the soul's altar glow.
There was one who now trips o'er mem'ry's page,
As I knew her in sweet days of yqpth ;
Ere her eye lost its light, her cheek its bloom,
Quenched in sorrow and bitter untruth.
Oh! glad xvas her voice in her father's hall,
A soul yielding music, and love,
A beam that chased away sadness and care,
As if wafted from fountains above.
She dreamt not of sorrow, hut Oh ! it fell
With a weight that crushed that fair flower,
From one whose arm should have sheltered front ill
Each bli>ssom in love’s holy bower.
Thus passes the gay and lovely from earth,
Alas! that olden proverb holds strong—
That bright eye and smile, the dark birth foretells
Os fast coming misery and wrong.
But my Muse is sad as winds in the pine,
Fitly mourning near my rose-screened door—
The chords of fter lyre are jarring and wild,
As seeking their last echoes to pour.
Oh ! why thus distrusting, and sad my soul,
hen the dawning of youth’s sky is bright ?
I>"th visions prophetic thy future shroud
In the shadow of evil and blight ?
Gh ! tell me doth not the spirit's far wing
Bring us warnings of sorrows to come ?
Have others not felt its shadowless form
Bring a gloaming like day without sun?
But awake from thy gloom, oh, weary heart!
Life's turbid waves will waft thee to peace,
Through clianges and storms let Faith guide thy bark,
She'll moor thee where earth's troubles cease.
Cotton Valley, Ala. 11. W. O.
igritnltott, ffinmtfattea, &r.
The State of Georgia.
EXTRACT FROM MR. STEPHENS’ SPEECH,
In the House of Representatives, on the Census Bill.
Mr. Stephens said—
It has been said that the objection to this measure
is a sectional one. that the South is opposed to it
because the statistics will exhibit her disadvantages.
I allude to this simply to repel the imputation in the
most direct, emphatic, and positive terms. At least,
I can speak for myself and my State. Ido not
shrink from a comparison of that State with any
State in the 1 nion, in all the elements and resour
ces of industry and prosperity which give wealth,
dignity and power to a people. Georgia, it is true,
was the youngest of the old thirteen States that
formed the Union. At that time she was the weak
est ot the fraternal band. Twelve years have not
yet passed since the last remnant of the aborigines
were removed from her limits, and since she had
complete jurisdiction over her entire domain. Os
course the comparison would he with great odds
against her if matched against Massachusetts, New
York, or Virginia, which were wealthy and power
ful communities before the infant colony of Georgia
was planted in the wilderness. Boston, New York,
and Richmond, were nearly as old as Georgia now
is when Oglethorpe tirst landed at Savannah. But
notwithstanding all this, I will not shrink from the
comparison, let it be instituted when and where it
may.
The gentleman from Pennsylvania has told us of
the iron and coal of that ancient and renowned Com
monwealth. Georgia too, let me tell that gentle
man, lias her beds of coal and iron, her lime, gyp
sum aud marl; her quarries of granite and marble.
She has inexhaustable treasures of minerals, inclu
ding gold, the most precious of metals. She has a
climate suitable for the growth and culture of almost
every product known to husbandry and agriculture.
A better country for wheat and corn and all cereal
plants, to say nothing of cotton and tobacco, is not
to be found in an equal space on this continent.—
There, too, grow the orange, the olive, the t ine and
the lig, with forests of oak and pine sufficient to
build and mast the navies of the world. She has
mountains for grazing, livers for commerce, and wa
terfalls for machinery of all kinds without number.
Nor have these great natural advantages and re
sources been neglected. Young as -he is she is now
the first cotton-growing State in the Union. Her
last year’s crop will not fall short of six hundred
thousand bales, if it does not exceed it. She has I
believe, thirty-six cotton factories in operation, and
a great many more hastening to completion—one of
them has, or soon w ill have, ten thousand spindles,
w ith two hundred looms capable of turning out eight
thousand yards of cloth per day. Her yarns are
already finding their way to the markets of the
North and foreign countries; and the day is not dis
tant when she will take the lead in the manufacture,
as well as the production of this great staple. She
has also her flour mills and paper mills—her forges,
founderies and furnaces, not with their tiles exting
uished, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania said of
some in his State; but in .full blast. Her exports
last year w ere not less than thirty millions of dollars,
equal to, if not greater than those of all New Eng
land together. She has six hundred and fifty miles
of railroad in operation, at a cost of fifteen millions
of dollars, and two hundred more in the process of
construction. By her energy aud enterprise she has
scaled the mountain barriers and opened the way
for the steagi car, from the Southern Atlantic ports
the waters of the great valley of the AYest. But
this is not all. She has four chartered universities
—nay five, for she has one devoted exclusively to
the education of her daughters. She was the first
State, I believe, to establish a female college, which is
now in a flourishing condition, and one of the bright
est ornaments of her character. She has four hun
dred men pursuing a collegiate course; a
greater number, I believe than any State in the
Union in proportion to her white population. Go
then and take your statistics, if you wish —you w ill
find not only all these things to be so, but I tell you
also what }ou will not find.* You will not find any
body in that State begging bread or asking alms.—
You will find but few paupers. You w ill not find
forty thousand beings, pinched with cold and hun
ger, demanding the 1 iglit to labor, as I saw it stated
to be the case not long since in the city of New York.
And when you have got all the information you
want, come and institute the comparison, if you wish
with any State you please; make your own selec
tion, 1 shall.not shrink from it, nor will the people
of that State shrink from it. Other gentlemen from
the South can speak for their own States; I speak
onfy for mine, and in her name and in her behalf,
as one of her representatives upon this floor, I ac
cept the gauntlet in advance, aud I have no fears
of the result of a comparison of statistics, socially,
morally, politically, w ith any other State of equal
population in this confederacy. I know gentlemen
of the North are in the habit of laying great stress
upon the amount of their population, as if number
was an index of national prosperity. If this princi
ple were correct, Ireland should be considered one
of the most prosperous countries in the world,
notwithstanding thousands of her inhabitants die
annually for the want of food. The whole idea is
wrong. * That country has the greatest elements of
prosperity where the same amoundtf human labor
or exertion will procure the greatest amount of hu
man comforts; and that people are the most pros
perous, whether few or many, who possessing these
elements, control them by their energy and indus
try and economy for the accumulation of wealth. —
In these particulars the people ot Georgia are infe
rior to none in this or any other country. 1 hey
have abundant reason to be content with their lot
—at least no*, to look to you to better it. Nor have
they any disposition to interfere with the affairs ot
their neighbors. If the people of M.istachusetts,
“Jnbqjcniicttt in all tljiugs—Neutral in Natljing.”
MACON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY MORNING, MAY, 81, 1850.
New York or Ohio, like their condition better, they
are at perfect liberty to do so. Georgia has no-de
sire to interfere with their local institutions, tastes
or sentiments, nor will she allow’ them to interfere
with Iters. All she desires is to let others alone and
to be let alone by others, and to go on in her own
wayrin the progress she has commenced prosperous
and to prosper.
Mr. Sweetser interrupted, and asked if the facto
ries in Georgia had not been erected by Northern
capital?
Mr. Stephens said; No, sir, they were built by
Georgia capital. And I will tell the gentleman
more. The six hundred and fifty miles of Railroad
now in operation, to which I have alluded, were
built by Georgia capital. One hundred and thirty
nine miles, from Atlanta to Chattanooga, on the
Tennessee river, which is one of the greatest monu
ments of the enterprise of the age, was built by the
State. But her public debt is only a little over
eighteen hundred thousand dollars, while that of the
State of New York is over twenty millions, besides
the fourteen millions owed by the city alone; and
the debt of Pennsylvania is forty millions of dollars.
The bonds of the State of Georgia are held mostly
by her own people. You do not them haw ked about
in Northern or foreign markets at a depreciation.—
But they, as well as the Stocks and securities of the
private companies, are held mostly by her own citi
zens, and are commanding premiums at home.
Paine’s Hydro Electric Light,
By the following article, which we copy from the
B<>ston Post, it w ill appear that Mr. Paitie’s discov
ery of light from water, by mechanical action, is at
last perfect:
After a period of six years, employed in a series
of experiments conducted upon the most philosophi
cal principles, and continued with indefatigable per
severance, Mr. Henry M. Paine, of Worcester, has
completed bis “Magnetic Electric Decomposer,” an
ingenious apparatus for evolving hydrogen and oxy
gen gasses from water, by the agency of electricity,
generated by mechanical means. The gasses thus
obtained may be used for light, heat and motive
power, and have already been practically tested for
the two first named purposes, on a considerable scale,
with wonderful effect.
At his residence, on Tuesday evening, April 23,
Mr. Paine exhibited the operation of his invention
to a number of gentlemen in Boston aud Worcester,
some of whom have had considerable experience in
the gas business, and others have taken great inte
rest in plans and projects, having in view the pro
duction of artificial light at cheaper rates than it can
be furnished by the means hitherto employed by gas
manufacturers. Mr. Paine bad bis house brilliantly
lighted up, although he used only one small burner
for each room. The light was exceedingly strong
and w hite, and so pure that the most delicate shades
of blue and green in some colored prints could be ■
distinguished at a distance of several feet from the
burner, (acommon gas burner,) which was supplied
w ith gas from a pipe whose diameter did not exceed
one quarter of an inch.
At the same time that the light was being exhib- j
ited, the mode of using the gas for heating was also !
shown. A small jet of pure hydrogen, between two 1
plates of iron, raised a few incites from the floor, w as i
lighted, and in a few minutes an equal and genial heat J
that was diffused throughout the apartment. Thus i
the astonished party had the light and heat together,
supplied from the same source Glow, and their ex
pressions of admiration were unbounded; nor were
they abated when they were led down into the cel
lar to examine the exceedingly small machine by
which the gas was made. The box containing it was ;
about 18 inches square, ami Bin depth. We can- j
not give the details of the interior of the machine. ,
but w ill simply state that, as its name indicates, it I
evolves magneto-electricity by purely mechanical I
action. From the above mentioned box there ran j
flat copper w ires into the decomposing jar, which
w as about two feet in height, and six or eight inches
in diameter, and partly filled with water; in this jar,
by the action of the electricity just spoken of, pure
hydrogen gas alone was formed from the water,
whence it passed into tw o gasometers or reservoirs,
about the size of a barrel each. The pole, at w hich
oxygen gas is liberated, on this occasion, passed in- I
to the ground, so that hydrogen only was e* olved
by the action of the machine. The process of car- j
bonizing the hydrogen for illumination is exceeding- i
ly simple, and was open to view. It is very cheap, j
so much so, that Mr. Paine says that the cost of j
carbonizing the gas he lias burned in his house in ;
three burners every evening for a week, has not yet ;
amounted to one cent. The hvdrogen is used for
the general purposes of light and heat, and the oxy- |
gen can also be secured in a second jar, and may be |
used with the hydrogen to produce the “calcium i
light” for light houses.
Mr. Paine has also discovered a principle by which
lie can regulate the quantity of electricity to be dis
charged into the composing jar. ‘ A large machine
has recently been perfected by Mr. Paine, of suffi
cient power to supply three thousand burners w ith i
gas. It is set up in the Worcester Exchange, and j
only occupies a space of three feet square by six in i
height.
One cubic foot of water w ill make 2,100 feet of
gas,.and a weight of 07 pounds, falling nine feet in
an hour, will make, from this larger machine, 1,000
feet of gas. The apparatus can be applied to gas
works of ally kind, and be used with any of the gas
fixtures at present in fashion — Boston Post.
A Wonder of Art—a Bridge of Tubes.
One of the most extraordinary wonders of mod
ern times is the “Britannia Bridge,” over the Menai
Straits, the work of that celebrated engineer, Mr. R.
Stephenson. It consists of two immense w rought
iron arcades, tunnels or tubes, each more than a
quarter of a mile in length, placed side by side,
through w hich the up and down trains of railroad
cal’s respectfully pass. The ends of these tubes
rest on abutments, the intermediate portion being
supported across the Straits by three massive and i
lofty stone towers. The centre tower stands on a J
rock, which is covered by the tide at high water. 1
The side-towers stand on the opposite shores, each
at a distance of 450 feet from the centre tower. —
The abutments are situated inland at a distance
230 feet from the side-towers. The bridge is divi
ded into four spans, viz: the two small spans at
each end, which are over the land, and are 230 feet
wide, and the two principal spans, which are over
the water, and w hich are each 400 feet wide. The
length of one of the large tubes is 482 feet. The ,
height of the tubes is not the same at all parts of
their length. It is greatest in the centre, where it
is thirty feet outside, and diminishes gradually to
wards the ends, at which it is only twenty-two feet
nine inches. The top forms a regular arch, and the
bottom is quite straight and horizontal. The in-
ternal width from side to side is fourteen feet,
though the clear space for the passage of the trains
is but thirten feet five inches. The weight of the
wrought iron in one of the largo tubes, and this will
afford the reader an adequate idea of the structure,
is about 1000 tons. The weight of the w hole eight
tubes amount to nearly 10,000 tons.- Each tube
was built on the shore, and had to be transported a
considerable distance on large flat-bottomed, close
barges, callet,! pontoons. The middle tower is sixty
two feet five inches at the base, and its total height
from the bottom of the foundations is nearly 230
feet. It contains limestone and sandstone to the
extent and weight of 20,000 tons, and there are
387 tons of cast iron built into it, in the shape of
beams and girders. The whole is nearlv completed,
and when the work shall be done, there will be two
consecutive tubes forming the bridge, each upwards
ot a quarter of a mile long, and each weighing
| 5,000 tons. The entire length of the bridge at rail
level is 1,841. It is stated that a very remarkable
phenomenon is connected with the mass of iron in
the bridge, caused by the changes of temperature
in the weather, which affect it like a thermometer.
Alternate sunshine and showers of rain cause the
tubes to expand and contract.
Great Newspaper Tress.—ln the press lately
invented by Messrs. Hoe A Cos., on two of which
the Philadelphia Ledger is printed, the types are
adjusted around a large cylinder, at every revolu
tion of w hich, four small cylinders connected with it,
give off tour impressions of the paper. They are
now building fur the New York Sun, a press with
eight of the small cylinders, which give oft’eight
impressions at a revolution, and at a slow speed will
produce 20,000 impressions in an hour. The ma
chinery delivers the sheets, hut it requires a person
at each cylinder to put them in.
From the Journal & Messenger.
New York, May 1.3t1i, 1850.
Messrs Editors: —l am pleased to see that you are taking
great interest in the question of Plank Roads. The subject
is attracting great attention in all the middle and Northern
States, and the improvement is fast becoming the most popu
lar one of the clay.
Hie only serious objection, hitherto urged by the opponents
oi the system at the South, is based upon the durability of
the timber. They contend that in our climate the lumber will
rot so soon, that it will be impossible to keep the roads in re
pair and make them pay. Thus far it has been impossible to
answer the objection, because we have had no experience—
no facts upon which to base any opinion.
I am happy to inform you and others interested in the ques
tion, that Capt. Hi 11 house, formerly a superintendent of Pub
lic \\ orks in Georgia, has solved the question very conclu
sively and satisfactorily. Seventeen years since, he construct
ed a Plank Road in Wilkes county, one mile in length, of pine
plank 12 feet long 3 inches thick. Within the last month he
hail the curiosity to examine it. in company with some friends,
who also felt desirous of knowing, and lie found about one
third of the plank still in a sound slate, lie gives it as his
opinion, that a road of heart pine, properly constructed,
would remain in a state fit for use, more than twenty years !
\\ e all know Capt. llillhouse, and I can add nothing to his
reputation, by saying that he is a man of judgment and ver
acity, and that his statement puts to flight all doubts upon
the question of durability of planks laid upon the ground, in
the open air. Your obedient servant,
Joux G. Winter.
Improvement on Saddles. —Mr. George Fisher has j
invented a very excellent improvement on riding saddles,
which will enable the equestrian to ride the “flying courser,”
with a great deal more ease and pleasure than with the old
kind of saddles’and will also be easier for the animal. The
improve n.cnt consists in having the seat of the saddle porta
ble, or capable of being detached from the pad, (the old ones
arc fastened,) and bv constructing the inside of the seat on
both sides, and the surface of the pad, in such a way that
coiled or eliptical springs may be placed between the seat and
the pad, thus preventing jolting and jarring, by graduating
the irregularity of action, and enabling the rider to sit and
enjoy a gentle and easy motion on horseback.
Measures have been taken to secure a patent.— Sci. Amer.
North Alabama and Savannah —We had yester- ;
day the pleasure of conversing with Mr. Patterson, a merchant
of* Decatur, North Alabama. Mr. P. is almost the pioneer
of business relations between this place and that region. He j
brings for himself and friends nearly 500 bales of cotton to this
market, taking back supplies. This cotton was received at j
Decatur, (which town is 200 miles below Chattanooga, just !
above the “ Muscle Shoals,") principally from the counties of
Morgan and Lawrence. A small part of it came front Elk
river. J leretofore this cotton went to Florence, below the
Muscle Shoals, and theuce to New Orleans. Now, since the
State Road is opened to Chattanooga, the tide is turned the
other way, and the trade of Decatur is increased twofold be
yond the last season. Os the 200,000 hales made in North
Alabama, Mr. Patterson estimates that one-half will hence
forth come to the Atlantic markets. During the season just
passing, about 3,000 bales have been sent up in boats from
Decatur alone. During the previous season, only 300 to
400 bales were sent.
From Decatur to Knoxville is 400 miles of navigation.—
Nino steamboats are now engaged between these two points,
and three new ones are being made at Pittsburg. One
boat, the Jas. Jackson, of the capacity of 1,000 bales of cot
ton, 185 feet long, passes through ‘‘‘the suck” and other ob
structions between Decatur and Chattanooga, without the aid
ol tow lines. They go from Memphis to Washington City ,
(via Decatur) in seven days. When the Memphis road is 1
done, the time will be reduced to five days. Our citizens will i
find it a most agreeable excursion to go to Chattanooga, and
thence to Decatur and Knoxville. Boats ply daily between
Chattanooga and Decatur most of the year. Taking the boat
at 2 P. M., you arrive at Decatur the next morning.— Sav.
Rep.
The Secret of Longevity.—The means known, so far,
of promoting longevity, have been usually roncentrated in
short, pithy sayings—as, “Keep your head cool, and your
feet warm”—“Work much, and eat little,” etc., just as if the
whole science of human life could be summed up and brought
out in a few words, while its great principles were kept out
of sight. One of the best of these sayings is one given by an
Italian in his hundred and sixteenth year, who being asked
the means of his living bo long, replied with that improvisa
tion for which his country is remarkable:
“ When hungry, of the best I eat,
And dry and warm l keep my feet;
I screen my head from sun and rain.
And let few cares perplex my brain.”
The following is about the best theory of the matter: Eve
ry man is born with a certain stock of vitality, which cannot
be increased, but may be husbanded. With this stock he
may live faster slow—may live extensively or intensively—
may draw his little amount of life over a large space, or nar
row it into a contracted one; but when this stock is ex
hausted, he has no more. He who lives extensively, drink.- pure
water, avoids all inflammatory diseases, exercises sufficient
ly but not too laboriously, indulges no exhausting passions,
feeds on do exciting material, pursues no debilitating pleas
ures, avoids all laborious and protracted study, preserves an
easy mind, and thus husbands his quantum of vitality—will
live considerably longer than he otherwise would do, because
he lives slow; while he, on the other hand, who lives intense
ly—who beverage's himself on liquors and wines, exposes
himself to inflammatory diseases or causes that produce them,
labors beyond his strength, visits exciting scenes and indulges
exhausting passions, lives on stimulating and highly seasoned
food, is always debilitated by his pleasures.
(Original
For the Georgia Citizen.
“THE PATRIOT DEAD:”
A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.
My dear Sir :—I have just read in an old No. of
the “Philadelphia -finerican and Gazette,” a Poem
with the above title, which the Editor says is in the
Anapaestic measure, after the manner of Tyrteus, ap
propriate to the patriot Elegy, Ac.
it is absolutely astonishing with what presump
tion some people will talk about that of which they
know so little. That Dr. Percival was ever “regard
ed by many of our best scholars a- having been
more successful than any American writer, living or
dead,in his imitations of the Ancient Classics,” is,
perhaps, in a certain sense, possible, as “many of
our best scholars” know just precisely nothing at all
about the subject. That he is a “ successful imita
tor” of that sublime genius of Greece, our very
knowledge of his deficiency in music—-an Art of
which the Grecian was a master—prepares us to de
ny. Then what glory can any man receive from be
ing the “ imitator ’ of another? The fact is, Dr.
Percival’s mind is deficient in the perfect cognition
of the harmonies of tilings, lie is lamentably de
ficient in the power to arrange, in his own mother
tongue, a concatenation of syllables which will in
tonate melodiously on the ear, as can be proven by
scanning these very verses—that is, he cannot so
harmonize his syllables into poetic feet that they
will read themselves. That this is not a very easy
thing to do, in many kinds of verse, may be admit
ted, without, at the same time, admitting that it is
so in the kind ot'Aorse, which he ha-*chosen—name
ly, what the Editor of the “Philadelphia Ameri
can’’ calls the “Anapaestic.” He is not only deficient
in this respect, (which is just the same as to say
that he has no ear for music,) but is also deficient in
that beautiful knowledge of harmony which con
sists in the Art of melodiously placing, at proper in
tervals, in the various portions of his verse, the cccsu
ral pause. It is by knowing bow to vary <he har
monic caesura 1 pause in the verse, which constitutes
its melody, that monotonv, w hich is so tiresome to
the ear in many long poems, is prevented. This can
be seen by scanning the very verses under consider
ation.
Tyrtreus was not only a Poet, but a warrior and
musician. The Soldiers paid him the greatest hon
ors. Previous to going to war, they were always
summoned before the King’s Tent to listen to his
war-like songs. Thucydides says that when the
Lacedemonians went into battle, it was the practice
to play soft music for the purpose of preventing
their courage from becoming too impetuous; but,
that, on one occasion, when the dav was going
against them, Tvrtaeus, who was acting the part of a
M usician, quitted the soft Lydian mode and began j
to play in the Phrygian, which so reanimated the j
retiring troops that they returned to the charge j
and gained the victory. But to return to the ver- i
ses.
The verse of the Poem is monocolon—acatalec
tie —with the ceasura at the end of the line alter
nately. The follow ing line is anapaestic:
“In the si- | lence of night | and in sol- | emn array | by the glim- |
iner of tor- | ches is wheel- | ling.” / .
1 have said that this line is anapiestic, because it
is nearly so —that is, it approaches it as nearly as
any of the rest. The word glimmer is a pyrrhic
and ought not to have been used.
Now lead the next line:
“Majestic, the funeral train, on it* way, and its mnsic is plaintively
stealing.”
W ill any body tell me that this is an anapaestic
line ? It begins with an amphibrach, and, in the
relation which it Gars to the line to which it is
coupled, is—Gatalectic.
The next two lines are equally deficient. But
thi sis not all. It is one thing to understand the Ar
tistieal skill necessarv to the construction of a poem, j
and another the kind of material best adopted to
that superstructure. Why should any Poet, wri
ting an Elegy in “imitation” ot’Tyrtaeus, or any body
else, make a funeral train “teheel'’ in “ the silence of
the night,” by the glimmer of torches,and that, too,
in solemn array ? Did any body ever hear of the
like ? The “ wheeling ” would do well enough in a
Patriotic Poem, provided it was describing any act
of the “train''’ that required “ wheeling ;” but here the ;
Poet solemnly assures us that the ‘J funeral train ” is
“on its tray" —that is, a funeral procession is going
to deposite the cinerary urn of the deceased in his
sepulchre.
The following line is neither anapsestic, verse nor
melodious prose. The fact is, it is no rhythm at all.
“Spear and buckler secured, slow the army moves on,
Its stanilanl* and banners low trailing.” S
There is not a man in the world who can read this
line as an anapaestic, without giving a false accent
to nearly half the words in it.
But this is not the only palpable fault in the Po
em. What likeness is there between the “far-echo
ed roar of the ocean” and “one faint hoilow mur
mur” Os “the funeral train?” Is the “far-echoed
roar of the ocean” a “faint hollow murmur Is
it possible that the writer was never at sea ?
The follow ing line will give the intelligent reader
some idea of the Author’s rhythm:
“Light and Mill glide their steps, and inuninon all
Attend to their solemn emotion.”
These remarks are not made to detract, in the
least, from the well-earned reputation of 1 >r. Perci
val, —who ought to he admired only for his pro
found erudition, —but to rebuke that self-complacen
cy which arrogates to itself the ability to see that in
a man whicli he never saw in himself.
Yours, very truly, T. 11. C.
[For the Georgia Citizen.]
Loaves from a Portfolio.
LEAF XI.
Knowledge.—However distant happiness and prosperity
may hover from our embrace, there is, surely, nothing that will
sooner place them within our grasp and possession than knowl
edge. It is an acknowledged power which indubitably sways
the minds of millions of mankind. Bulwer has said: “Be
neath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than
the sword.” Knowledge dcvelopes the most latent powers of
the mind, and fills the heart with w isdom beyond the rcaeh of
human aggrcetion. I? makes its inheritor the most indepen
dent and the most envied. The philosopher who told Alex
ander to stand from between him and the tun, w hen Alcxan-
der proffered to aid him, is a true example of the indepen
dency of knowledge. Knowledge disseminates among man
kind those principles, when adopted, which are beneficial in
1 every degree to the inter-sts and happiness of humanity here
and hereafter. There is no poverty so degraded as the de
pravity of the mind ; and ignorant men are poor if they have
I coffers of gold. It is well known that the fame ,nf nations
; where knowledge is spread, is lasting nnd undying. Greece
and Italy were the famous seats of learning in ancient times,
| and although their dominions have been seized upon by stron
ger arms than theirs, the fame of their know ledge baa never
been wrested from them. From the fate of these republics
we can appreciate tire benefit of knowledge. Whatever
mundane possessions we obtain can be translated from us
through misfortunes and various other causes; but knowl
edge can only depart with life. It is the noblest possession of
man, and as much enhances his worth, as the diamond adds
to the value of a golden jewel. Wherever there exists the
greatest diffusion of intelligence there is found the least crime,
and were there an education given to every child, there would
be little need for poor houses or prisons in our land.
SENECA.
Leaf xii.
Lenity. —lf there ever was a virtue more godlike in man,
than lenity, we own to have never seen it. The natures and
habituated dispositions of mankind arc so materially different
that we seldom see this transcendant virtue displayed. And
thus the poet thought when he said,
“Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn.’’
In all our walks of life, be they ever so complicated, we feel
j there is no room in our bosoms for misanthropy, w hen wo
meet with lenient treatment from those we have inadvertent
'ly injured by our unguarded acts or speech. When error has
misguided our reason, the lenient advice of a friend spreads
“ An instant sunshine through the heart,'’
rfind gladdens us with unexpected kindness. If all men were
cruel, and their whole aitn was to oppress and punish their
erring fellow men, what boon would life have worth living to
attain ? Cruelty, however, has not the predominance over
t!ie wise, because in their breasts there gushes, spontaneously,
forth a lucent spring of benevolence.
1 lie most inveterate and most dreaded enemies of somo
men. have been made firm and unflinching friends by the ex
hibition of kindness of heart. There are many little courte
sies if displayed towards your adversaries, which go far to
; wards reconciling their animosity, and go to the same extent
iin proving to them our real feelings oflenitv. It is well known
that a kind word or action will redound more to our honor,
and place us nearer the attainment of our wishes, than ex
pressions of unkindness and blows unto others. It is a sol
emn duty, and an obligation we are under both to God and
man to be lenient in our punishments and judgments when
an opportunity is before us, to do so. If we are not naturally
: disposed to be lenient let us strive to be so, for a great philos
, opher lias said : “ The greater the evil, the greater the virtu©
j in overcoming it.” SENECA.
Cortfsponitenff.
LETTER from Ga.
| LaGhan-ge, Geo., May 2*2,1850.
Traveller* with Trunks” and Travellers with Saddle
bags—their altered position—Union Point Hotel—Atlan
ta Hotel—" The triple Alliance ,” or Peters\ Remans $
Ellsworth's turtle pond Coashes.
Dear Doctor :—A few years ago a witty vendor of “hog
and liomony” in Georgia, used to classify his guests by tho
j name of “trunk traveller*” and “saddle-bag travellers,” and
always directed “John” to be lively and pert whenever any of
| the first class made tlreir appearance. But times are sadly alter
ed—l belong to that “large and respectable” class of tr unk
travellers. \\ e start by note of a whistle or bell, or yell of a
; cross stage driver; we stop to dine when interest or the con
venience of someone or all of the proprietors directs ; this
i is often (so often that the exception is only enough to make it
a rule) at an unseasonable b< >ur, and then such, dinners! Oh,
j that we had an organ to represent ou - interests and to tell the
; world a half only of our sufferings. But alas we are never
: beard of except it be on an occasion of some outrage so gross
j as to delude the sufferers for a moment into the belief that an
advertisement of the fact will perfectly annihilate the aggres
: s.rs, and then, poor innocents, they get together and write a
denunciatory “Cord.” This they will hand to the editor of
a paper published in the town where the denounced line ter
minates. But “for a consideration - ’ he consents to print it.
It is stuck in the corner in small type, where if it is ever seen
it is never read through. The “saddle-bags traveller” rises
when he pleases, stops w herAnd where he pleases, gets as
good as the taverns affrJ. because they have generally got
so bad that ihe “proprietors'’ hardly think it worth while to
make any distinction ; besides, he can make it convenient to
happen at a private house at about the right hour for putting
up. and then the saddle-bag man has good oorn bread, fresh
eggs, butter and milk, all of which the trunk man only dreamt
about.
But to the facts. Who tliat lias passed over the Georgia
Bail Road within the last two years, has not a feeling recollec
tion of Union Point “Supper House?” Was ever such a
hole dignified with a name before ? Supper house ! indeed.
Imagine a lonar, low, dark, dingy, dirty weather boarded shed
stuck in the fork of the Roads, where the Athens Branch
“switehs into” the Georgia Road. In this pen is erected a
counter in the shape of an elipse, which is about eighteen inches
wide, and is just up to a medium sized Lady's imee. Around
this counter the mourners are expected to stand and try to
satisfy the cravings of an appetite whetted by dining at half
past 11 o’clock at Griffin. And now the supper : A cup of
muddy coffee will be stuck at you by a running negro , who
never stops to answer inquiries or to bring the sour milk and
three cent N. O. sugar, but leaves you (knowing yon are on
your feet) to wait on yourself. After you have fixed this
mixture the thing that calls himself proprietor, (who I believe
has made in tliis way some 60 negroes) comes along and very
pompously asks if any one will have a piece of the venison
steak? Every body jumps at the startling announcement.
Venison steak in such a place! Shades of “Florence f*
and “Sherwood, and Fisher!” the memory of your suppers
must satisfy our wild hopes—the venison was spoilt ‘long ago,’
and now would knock any body over but those who are used
to it. We turn with disgust from butter so raneid that it
would take the skin off of ihe tongue—the biscritt is raw and
w'e liave to give it up. By the time we get around the elip
tic counter, we encounter the burley proprietor (L n)
who cooly holds out liis hand, takes a lialf a dollar and bland
ly smiles when you curse him and his suppers.
In returning from Augusta you breakfastat Thompson**
” Atlanta Hotel,” who makes up for keeping a bad house
generally, with his wit and one good dish only, that is his
breakfast roll, or “biscuit,” as he calls it. At 12 M. you dine
at Griffin and take the Turtle line for Opelika, via this place
The fare is 10 1-2 cents per mile, and we move over the road
at about three miles pc r hour, that is to say, I was near 14 hours
coming from Griffin to this place, when in the good old times
of opposition it was always done in 8 hours and at the price of
of S cents per mile. This price of staging has made the pro
prietors a fortune. Five stages are frequently run out full of
passengers at the above exhorbitant fare. It k divided into
sections. Tctcrs owns from Griffin to two miles this side of
Greenville, Bar,an thence to ‘ Long Cane, and Ellsworth from
Long Cane to Opelika. The last named gentleman. I
happy to learn, still makes about six mike per hour, and is dis
satisfied with the snail pace of his partners. Hc#ko still h.”
NO. 10.