Southern literary gazette. (Athens, Ga.) 1848-1849, October 21, 1848, Page 187, Image 3

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younger negro. The Major had breveted him second in command, and dubbed him Cap tain. This had truly a martial effect on him, and it appeared in his firm, steady tread, and a disposition to be belligerent towards all in truders. In one place stood a squad of what might be termed the “ b’/tof/s.” Each one held in his hand a rough-looking hickory stick, which reminded you of Hercules’ club in miniature. Their breeches-egs and socks seemed to have been quarrelling that morning, from the an tipathy they exhibited towards each other, and which could not even be overcome by the main force of old bridle reins substituted for straps. The same cause of difference existed between their vests, and the waist-bands of their trowsers; or, perhaps, what I took to be an exposure of their shirts, in consequence of this difference, was only white bands of cotton cloth girded round about their stom achs and which formed part of the mode a la b'hoy. Their coats showed that they ap peared in borrowed feathers, literally and fig uratively; for in reality, the said garments looked as if they had been stowed away in feather-beds instead of chests or trunks; and moreover, their indisposition to clasp their wearers in close embrace, betrayed fact, that in all human probability, their daddies had stood for the tailor to take their measures —the boys not being used to such things, and therefore liable not to stand correctly. Their hats, were probably those which their fathers wore when they were married, up wards of twenty years before ; for they were real bell-crowned fellows, reminding you more than anything else of an inverted sugar loaf blackened, and stuck in a rim of patent leath er. They had little white hairs fixed about upon their countenanceshere and there, which made them resemble an old pigeon with the feathers picked off, before the down is singed. Every now and then when Capt. David pass ed these, one of them would make an attempt at a witty saying, at which they all roared, but which had no other effect on David than lo cause his upper lip to assume an angle of forty-five degrees, and his nasal organ to be have accordingly. In another place you might see a large collection of boys, of ten years and under, sitting down upon stones and roots of trees; now lolling about, now huddled togetherlike a bevy of partridges in a sunshiny December morning. Every now and then one of them would stray too near the pit. and Capt. Da vid would jump at him, and make him scam per off to his companions with so much ter lor in his countenance, as to prevent for some time, a repetition of the offence. Here you n.ight see a crowd of girls “just out, - ’ and dressed in a manner corresponding with that of the young men, only, of course, they had not yet commenced like their moth ers, to wear the—trowsers. Every now and then you might see a squadron of boys such as I have described above, come dashing up on their three-year old cockle-burred colts, performing divers and sundry evolutions, which would even put to shame a Georgia Major. Now, they would come on side-foremost, as if nature designed their ponies to travel in that way, and then they would turn tails for heads and make a retrograding progression towards the place of assemblage. “Never mind their ways,” said uncle Simon; “every man has his own way of being great, and I am not sure hut that the way of these hoys is preferable to that of the speakers, who will pretend to enlighten us presently.” By this time the crowd had nearly all ar rived, and, to use old David’s words, “ a few on ‘em" 1 were around the pit. “Where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” The sight was truly tempting. Upon the sticks laid across the pit, were placed whole pigs, with their tails as nicely curled as ff the task had been performed by the hair- Ik HIT B!B A ¥ SAS Bin? 8* dresser to some city belle. Their noses were turned up just as they used to be in life, when their owners scented an ear of corn from afar. A constant incense of odors seasoned with pepper and vinegar, went up from the whole oblation, and every where greeted the olfac tories. Ever and anon, drops of rich gravy fell down into the fire, crackling, and sending up curling wreaths of smoke, accompanied with a fragrance which made all lament that it should be lost! About eleven o'clock there was a commo tion among the people, and it was announced that the speaking would soon commence.— \\ e all proceeded to the stand about one hun dred yards off; but, as the crowd deployed to the right and left, many were the wistful looks cast back towards Sodom, the place of their future hopes. I saw both the speakers, one Whig and one Democrat, mount the ros trum. One came with his “ premeditated lines,” his pamphlets and news-papers in a bundance—the other, had none of the docu ments visible; though it afterwards turned out, that he had some “ few extracts cut from some Northern papers, which he would read to the audience.” Well, the man Dobbs, who had no visible documents, got up to speak first, and made a tremendous complaint against the other for bringing so many pamphlets and n< ws-papers there. For himself, he was going to speak I extemporaneously, The intelligence of the andience which he had the honor to address, needed no such thing as documents! Hethen went on to show that the only issue between the two parties, was the question of slavery; and that his candidates were in favor of it, and the candidates of the other party oppo sed to it. To prove this, he read extracts from Barn-burner and Free Soil papers; show ing, that they opposed his candidates, while they favored the pretensions of the others.— His remarks were interspersed throughout with anecdote, witticism etc. Os course, the excitement was tremendous—and the welkin rang with plaudits and shouts of laughter— simply, because his party had gone to the place determined to cheer, and laugh—and, rather than not laugh at all, they were de termined to laugh at noth ng. Dobbs wound up by addressing himself directly to the crowd I have described as standing around the pit, telling them how much abashed lie was to speak in the pres ence of so much intelligence and enlighten ment ! Hobbs, now got up to reply, and followed pretty much in the footsteps of his antago nist. He seemed carried away with a flood of indignation, to think that Dobbs should have complained of his carrying so many doc uments upon the stand, when he himself had been compelled to draw from his pockets the documents he had covertly stowed away there. For himself, he despised hypocrisy, and therefore had come out openly and bold ly from the first with his pamphlets and news papers ! Here followed the most tremendous and uproarious applause. Hobbs then went on to tell his anecdotes, and to excite laugh ter in his party. He also, made quotations from other Free Boil papers, to counter balance those which had been adduced by Dobbs. I noticed in these speeches, that each of the orators made constant appeals to the low est and vilest prejudices of their auditors; who hallooed, laughed, screamed, yelled, howled and stamped unceasingly. Very of ten, however, when they should have applau ded they were silent, and when they should have been silent, they made most noise. It was very unlucky for the speakers that the bree/e blew from the roasting meat towards the stand —for I was several times very much j amused to see some of the finest bursts of el oquence —some of the most pathetic appeals —lost upon the audience who happened at that time to have their nostrils inflated with odors from the barbecue, borne upon the wing of the Zephyr; and who stood with their noses turned up in that direction, just as I have seen cousin Aristides’ old Lewder throw up his head to wind a fox trail. After Dobbs and Hobbs had spoken an hour and a half apiece, at two o’clock it was announced that dinner was ready. The con gregation did not wait to be invited twice to the table, but forthwith made a rush fortheir anticipated meal. The pigs had been taken up and carved into proper sized pieces, then put in wooden trays, and ranged along upon the table at in tervals of some three or four feet. Between these trays, were huge piles of light bread, j and a kind of sour corn loaf which goes by I the name of risen bread. All joined in, | and reserving discussion of the merits of the ! speeches of their respective orators until af ter dinner, were very busily employed in a practical discussion of the merits of the eat ables—a point upon which they all seemed agreed. I happened to pass by Capt. David, when a peal of laughter burst upon my ear, and soon after, the exclamation—“ Lord, how some white folks can eat!” irorngn GTomsponime. For the Southern Literury Gazette. | LETTERS FROM SCOTLAND.—NO. 3. Rovverdennen Inn, ) Loch Lomond, Aug. 15, 1848. ] My Dear R., —You and your readers are indebted for this letter at so early a period of my progress in the Highlands, to a somewhat sudden and violent storm, which has driven our party into the little, but comfortable stone cottage, bearing the above appellation. lam occupying an attic room, whose door looks out upon Loch Lomond ; but, instead of the smooth, bright waters, glancing in the sun beams, which greeted me when I rose this morning, all that is now perceptible is a mass of scarce distinguishable cloud and water, rendered more gloomy still by the shadows of the surrounding mountains. Behind me, Ben Lomond lifts his giant form, though, if I had not seen it to-day, I should have no proof of its vicinity, so completely is it wrapped from base to summit in the heavy drapery of mist that ever attends a storm in the High lands. We were forewarned of the fickle ness of the skies in this glorious region, and so we came prepared to experience sudden draw-hacks to our enjoyment of its wonder ful scenery, in the shape of cold, driving rains and melancholy winds Two of these storms have we already encountered; from one we were sheltered in the Inn of the Tro sachs, which has an unpronounceable name, written thus — Ardcheannochrocann. I am far too much interested in the locali ties about me, to detain you long with allu sions to my journey liither. Our party con tinues as it was when we left London, and the presence of the ladies will be my sufficient apology for pursuing well-beaten tracks, and so availing ourselves of the best accommoda tions the region affords to tourists. Our jour ney up the Valley of the Forth, in a well ap pointed Scotch Coach, was a pleasant one. We lingered awhile at the fine old town of Sterling, which we reached in a little over two hours from Edinburgh, notwithstanding the distance is full thirty miles. This speed is partly due to the mettle of the horses em ployed on the stage routes, but more than that, to the unsurpassed excellence of the roads —an excellence of which your South ern readers can form no estimate by any com i parison with their public ways. I was once | a stage-coach passenger from Augusta to Col umbus, in your State, and upon the whole route there was not a mile of road that would hot have been put under repairs in this re gion! Sterling deserves a letter to itself, but it must be shewn up in a paragraph. It has one of the grandest positions l ever saw: in many respects surpassing that of Edin burgh. Like the latter, it is situated on a hill which springs from a beautiful valley, and ; terminates to the Northward in a precipice \ over 300 feet high, on which stands the cele | brated Castle of Sterling, one of the most re nowned fortresses in the history of Scotland. As at Edinburgh, we found a garrison in the Castle, which is kept in good repair. A ride of sixteen miles up the Valley— | narrowing as we progressed, and, at last, ! completely hemmed in by lofty hills—brought us to Callendar, on the bank of the Teith, a very pretty village on the threshold of the Highland region. As I gazed upon the migh ty Hills which every where, except to the South, rise like sentinels around it, I was car ried back, by the simple force of association, to my school-boy days, and almost uncon sciously repeated the lines then so familiar : “My name is Norval. On the Grampian hills My father feeds his flock—a frugal swain !” I could scarcely realize that those were the | “Grampian hills” that rose around me, and of which the principal peak is Ben Lodi. We were soon convinced of our actual en trance into the Highlands, for, as we got down from the stage-roof at the principal Inn—a capital one, too, by the way—we heard the singular, but to me. most musical ! accents of the Gaelic, and saw the genuine j Highland costume, not worn as a novelty, but as a matter of course. The prevailing dialect, however, of those ; with whom we came in contact, was English, which is spoken by nearly all the inhabi . tants. At one of the shops in Callendar, 1 provided myself with a drinking-cup. called, ; in the Gaelic, a quaich —an article in great ; demand among tourists in Scotland, and gen- I erally bought in Edinburgh, where the pur , chaser can have choice from scores of patterns and materials. This cup has two handles, and, in general shape, resembles a silver cake-basket. It is made of horn, of silver, # 7 and, more frequently, of wood, silver bound. The one l bought cost me three and sixpence, and the shop-keeper assured me it was made of the oak-beams of Mid Lothian memory, and I was quite willing to believe that it pos sessed so delightful an association. I dipped it, for the first time, in a beautiful spring that issues from a huge boulder on the borders of Callendar, and the next day drank from it the pure waters of Katrine, every drop of which seemed to me to glitter with the brightness of his genius, who has consecrated it to endu ring song. Near the aforesaid spring, at Cal lendar, I encountered a fine looking lad of, perhaps, seventeen years, who, in reply to my question, if he had ever been to Loch Lo mond, replied, “ Na, I’se never ganged totith er loch, but they say its verra braw.” I ask ed him if he had ever been to school ?- To which he replied, “Oh, ay, sir, I’se joost ganging til it noo,” pointing, at the same time, to a small building in the midst of a clump of trees, at no great distance. But I must not indulge in further reminis cences of Callendar, which place we left in an open car, rather rude, but sociable in the arrangement of its seats. Our road was still excellent in itself, and passed through a charming region. We traversed the borders of two small Lakes; and, at the end of the second, which is called Loch Achray, we found the famous pass of the Trosachs—a name signifying “the bristled region,” from the wildness of its ridges. At this point is the Inn with the unpro nounceable name, at which, however, we found delightful accommodations and most excellent fare. I could easily have mistaken this Inn for a gentleman's strong-hold—its massive stone walls and its sentinel towe r giving it quite a martial air. It is the ante chamber of the Highlands, where the visitor arranges the plan of his tour, and from which he proceeds to explore Loch Katrine. Fol lowing the pass of the Trosachs, which is a deep gorge in the mountains, narrow and pa’- lisaied with lofty and precipitous cliffs, and 187