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A Mexican's spurs are the most sav
a£re and uncivilized looking instruments that
can well be imagined, about two inches long
with small bells or pieces of steel attached
which jingle at every step. The stirrups are
made of wood, generally lignum vita, weight
ins: from two to three pounds;
One day as Mr. C. was limping down
High street of Edinborough, from the Court of
Sessions, he overheard a young lady saying
to her companion rather loudly, “That’s Mr.
C.- , the lame lawyer.’? Upon which
he turned round, and with his usual force of
expression, said, “No madam: 1 am a lame
man, but not a lame lawyer.”
jgi-gr’* A beautiful oriental proverb runs
thus: “With time and patience the mulberry
leaf becomes satin.” How encouraging this
1 lesson is to the impatient and desponding!
And what difficulty is there that man should
quail at, when a worm can accomplish so
much from the leaf of the mulberry %
EDITOR’S DEPARTMENT.
- -r : :••# .
ATHENS, SATURDAY, APRIL 21. 1849.
Editorial Correspondence.
Charleston, April 14th, 1849.
My Dear , —You are not like me, “in
populous city pent,” and do not, therefore, expe
rimee as much annoyance as myself from the heat
and dust. The latter, indeed, has become almost
as grievous as one of the plagues of Egypt—for the
air is filled with an impalpable powder, that not on
ly penetrates the eyes, but invades the lungs, and
renders breathing a task rather than a luxury, as it
would otherwise be at this usually delightful season
of the year. So dry has it been here for weeks, that
the cisterns are failing, and the ‘ fire-wardens’ have
prohibited the further use of the water for the cus
tomary irrigation of the streets. As there is still
plenty of water in the harbor, however, this evil
may be remedied by a little enterprize, and, should
it not rain immediately, such enterprize will be im
peratively demanded by the public weal.
1 trust that this general dryness will satisfactorily
I account to you for a dry letter, should the one 1 am
now inditing so appear to you. If 1 were to chose
my themes from the city, it would be utterly impos
sible to prevent such a result —so you will allow me
to describe to you a very delightful excursion, and a
sort of fete duimpetre , in which I had the pleasure
<4 participating to-day.
Avery happy custom is observed here by the Sab
bath Bchool connected with Dr. Gilman’s Church* —
that of celebrating its Anniversary in a rural festi
val, or pic-nic. The spot selected for this festal
scene is the little village of Mount Pleasant, four
miles from the city, across the water. You will not
wonder that I was easily prevailed on by my es
teemed friends, Dr. Gilman and his family, to be
come their guest for the occasion.
At ten o’clock, this morning, quite a numerous
party of both sexes and all ages embarked on a
small steamer, and, in less than half an hour, landed
a *uid the fine old trees that line the shore of Mount
Peasant. A spacious hall was speedily filled by the
company, and, with little delay, the religions cxer
cbes of the occasion were commenced by singing and
prayer. The excellent superintendent of the School,
li*. Joseph Walker, then made a brief report of its
condition, which exhibited one fact worthy of spe
j-cml notice —that, during the past year, not one
1 l member of the School had died! He then eoun-
I s '4k\l the children in an aifectionate manner, and
II bade them welcome to the festivities provided for
11 fimiu. The worthy pastor of the congregation, rep
-11 resented by the School, then made a very happy
II a nd beautiful address to the children. Ilewasfol-
I “■ ‘lby tho Rev. Mr. Bartlett, city missionary,
11 J 4 ti;e Rev. Mr. Livermore, of New Hampshire,
who both entered into the beautiful spirit of the oc
f 1 ion, and gavo the pupils wise and affectionate
counsel.
! ue religious exercises closed, the whole company
“ persed for such enjoyment as each desired —the
‘ c folks to swing amid the noble old trees, and
children of a larger growth,” as we were but
LJ ° happy to con f eS3 ourselves, to ramble in the
§©®lf si B lEid IUTT.B& IB A&7 ®1? IB ♦
woods, or on the beach, vvhere an hour was beguiled
with pleasant discourse.
At one o clock, the ladies of the party wofc I.'usi
ly employed—some in weaving wreaths of moss and
flowers for the fair heads of the little girls, and oth
ers in decorating tho plank-tables with evergreens
and roses, and spreading them with the varied con
tents of numerous hampers and baskets.
Around this table were soon gathered some fifty
children—their eyes sparkling with happiness, and
their cheeks glowing with the roseate hues of health
and excitement. It was, indeed, a beautiful sight,
and 1 gazed upon it w ith feelings of unalloyed de
light, and with emotions of thankfulness to that
Being, who has endowed childhood with such ex
quisite charms.
After the children had partaken, to their heart’s
content, of the good things before them, the elder
part of the company, nothing loth, continued the
attack upon ham and beef and chickens—with fre
quent skirmishing among the array of fruits and
cakes and confections. The rest of the afternoon
was spent as fancy or inclination suggested—until
the closing scene—the distribution of books—one to
each pupil of the School—after which the whole par”
ty, upwards of a hundred i number, reembarked in
the steamboat, and returned to the city, gratified
with the simple pleasure of the day and tho the bet
ter in feeling and purpose, I doubt not, for the inno
cent recreation enjoyed by every one.
I could not but think, a? I parted with my friends,
how much happiness they had bestowed upon the
pupils of their Sabbath School, by making its anni
versary one of festal enjoyment and rural pleasure.
On Monday night last I visited the Temperance
Hall, attracted by the fame of the weekly meetings
of tho “ Charleston Total Abstinence Society”
which had gone out into the whole land. For weeks
previous Dr. Robertson (formerly of Georgia) had
been delivering lectures before the Society, on the
great and comprehensive theme of ivater, and was,
on that night, to the Artesian Well —a
subject of no ordinary interest to the people of tills
city, where a work of this nature has been long pro
gressing—and the augur has at present reached the
depth of seven hundred feet. I was disappointed
however in common with a very large auditory, for
tho Doctor was announced to be seriously indisposed.
Ilia place was occupied by Dr. Adams, who read a
lecture on human physiology. You will not accuse
me of egotism if I mention that I had the happiness
of being suddenly called cn by the keen-sighted and
excellent President, James Tupper, Esq., and so
compelled —“nolus volus,” as Rough-and-Ready
used to have it—to make a speech. You see what
it is to beau Editor.
The meeting was enlivened by instrumental music
and by the singing of two appropriate odes. This
excellent society has accomplished a great amount
of good—and will doubtless continue to do so.
Charleston is rapidly advancing in the Mechanic
arts —as a glance at her machine-shops and mills
abundantly proves. I examined, at tho shop of Mr.
Lebby, a native artizan, a steam engine mounted
on wheels—for convenience of removal from one
scene of labor to another. It is compact, efficient
and cheap. Extensive works for building engines,
boilers, and all kinds of heavy machinery are multi
plying in the city, and give new impulse to ingenuity
and industry.
The people of Charleston and the planters of the
sea-board are a reading people —if I may judge from
the numerous well-supplied bookstores in the city.
Os these none is more attractive than Russel’s,
where you may be sure to find the latest editions,
and tho choicest novelties from New York, London,
and Paris. Mr. Russel’s excellent taste in literature
fits him admirably to preside over such an establish
ment.
The Southern Review for the present quarter has
just made its appearance. As it is r.ow under the
editorial care of a most indefatigable and no less
admirable writer —I mean the poet and novelist Mr.
Simms—it is to be hoped that its prospects will
rapidly brighten, and its success he in some measure
proportioned to its merits. Mr. Simms will do his
part, well and faithfully, I feel assured, and 1 trust
the publisher will second his efforts by that prompt
ness of issue which is the life of such a work. Surely
the people of the South will not let the only Levi', w
they have, languish and die. Forbid it, interest
forbid it shame!
I am reminded by the number upon this page that
my letter is growing ‘ lengthy'—if I may be pardon
ed f o i* using such an anti-saxon epithet, in these
days of orthographical nicety. So I will at once
put a stop to my prosings.
Yours, pefidtlical’y, R
s3- Greatness and littleness arc merely relative
terms, no matter to whom or to what they are ap_
plied. Our great men of to-day command our ad
miration and win our applause, but, perchance, to
morrow some intellectual giant will stride forth upon
the stage, when straightway our great ones of to-day
will dwindle into comparative insignificance. T hey
might as well have never been born.
Our Gossip Column.
The anecdote of the aged Minister, who com
menced the announcement of his design to dispenso
with singing with—
“My eyes m'P dim, T cannot eee,d
is going the rounds of tho papers, credited to thd
Boston Bee. It appeared originally in our gossip
column. “ Render unto Caesar,” &c \Vo
learn, from an extra issued from tho Office of the 1
Cnssville Standard, that a meeting of the citizens
of Cassville has been held to take measures to pre
vent the introduction into that town of the Small
Pox, which is now prevailing in portions of Cass
county. Resolutions recommending vaccination,
non-intereourse with the infected districts, &c., were I
passed O. A. Brown son, in the last num
ber of his Review, says:—“ The Divine idea, super
natural truth, was obscured by the Reformers, and J
has been pretty much lost sight of by their descend
ants; and there has appeared no philosopher, and
there has been no philosoplqy, since the middle of
the seventeenth century. * * * The first Ameri
can poet is probably not yet born.” .... The
following comes to us from Charleston, S. C. It is
just in time to secure a place here :
Mr. Editor , —ln the last number of tho Literary
Gazette, I the following :
“ A correspondent of the Lady’s Newspaper save
ho has never been able to obtain a solution of the
following enigma. Can any one assist him I
My first is the terror of ladies on land,
My second the terror of sailors on water;
My whole has a warehouse of terrors on hand,
That sailors don’t fear, and ladies run after.”
Here is the solution :
The Sun is the terror ofladics on land,*
The Shade is the terror of sailor’s on water;!
The Sun-shade’s a warehouse of terror on hand,
That sailor’s don’t fear, and ladies run after.
SARAH.
* Any thing that would spoil a lady’s beauty,
must be a source of terror to her. The sun will do
that.
t The sailor never can know his whereabouts,
without taking an observation of the sun ; and this
he cannot do, if the sun docs not shine. Shade, then,
is a terror to him.
We have “ a few more of the same sort left,” as
the Razor-Strop Man says. Here is one of them.
It is from a London paper. Will our fair corres
pondent, “ Sarah,” or any other lady, send us a
solution 1
“ For, if it can’t he guessed by a boy or a man,
By a giri or a woman it certainly can.”
AN ENIGMA.
“I’m the stoutest of voices in orchestra heard,
And yet in an orchestra never have been;
I’m a bird of bright plumage, yet less like a bird,
Nothing.in nature ever was seen.
Touching earth I expire—iq water I die:
In air I loose breath, yet can swim and can fly.
Darkness destroys me, and light is my death; ‘
You can’t keep me alive without stopping my breath.
If my name can’t be guessed by a boy or a man,
By a girl or a woman it certainly can.”
.... John G. Whittier, in one of his poem, —
Pentucket, we believe, —has the following beautiful
cone.'it. Describing an evening scone in New Eng
land, he says; —
“ Each small bright lake, whose waters still,
Mirror the forest and the hill,
Reflected from its waveless breast
The beauty of a cloudless West,
G orious as if a glimpse were given
Within the western gates of Heaven,
Left, by the spirit of the Star
Os Sunset's holy hour ajar.”
.... We regret to learn that Fitz Greene Hal
leck, the distinguished poet, who has been confined
to his room for some time by illness, and has shown
symptoms of mental derangement, is now a confirmed
lunatic. He has been placed, by his friends, in the
Asylum atßloomingdale, to remain until he recovers.
Efje SLitcrarj? F&orlfcr.
Melville —The author of * Typee’ and ‘ Oraoo,’
is about to publish anew work, entitled “ Mardi,
and a Yoyage Thither.”
Mr. Bryant, tliepoct-cditor, is on a tour through
the South and is writing sketches of his journey.
Something New.—An association of Editors,
Reporters, Contributors, &c., has been formed in
New York, for the purpose of establishing a Weekly
paper to be called the “ Era,” and which is to sur
pass anything in the newspaper lino now extant. —
Literature, the tine Arts, the Turf, tho Stage, Jctc.,
will all have a place in its columns, and in the way
of news, it will contain Legal, Commercial, Local,
Foreign, National and Political Items.
A New York house is about to publish a work on
Architecture by Robert Dale Owen.
A Meeting of the Book Trade was recently held
in the city of New York, to consider the expediency
of charitable societies engaging in the publication
of books; and a committee was appointed to obtain
facts and report at the Trade Sale to be held in Au
gust next.
Harper & Brothers have just published a com
plete and cheap edition of Longfellow’s Poem ;
eije fcimm'Ciiit fcerioMcal #ress.
Woodworth’s Youth’s Cabinet. NewYotks D.
Austin Woodworth.
Tho Cabinet is a beautifully printed and elegantly
illustrated juvenile monthly of3B pages. Its terms
are one dollar a year in advance. It is edited by
Her. F. C. Woodworth, and cannot fail to be a
favoritd with the children. Rev. 1). Ingles is agent
for tho work in Athens.
Littell's Living Age. Boston: E. Littcll &
Cos.
The last number of this excellent eclectic maga
zine contains a very interesting articlo from the
“ Museo des Familes,” translated by Miss Anne T.
Wilbur—“ The Paine 3 of Fontainbleau,” being Ke
moniscences—Traditional, Historical and Romantic,
of this ancient royal residence. We have marked
several passages for insertion in the Gazette. The
Living Age never fails—is never dull and dry. We
could hardly dispense with its weekly visits.
The Scholar's Penny Gazette. Boston: Asa
Fitz & L. F. Forrest.
Tho Penny Gazette is a little school paper and
appears to bo filled with contributions from the pu
pils of various schools in New England. We doubt
not but that, humble as is its professed mission, it in
doing more good than many a sheet of far greater
pretensions.
The American Flora. New York: Greene &
Spencer.
This is one of the most magnificent works issued
from tho American press, and to students of Botany
or Medicine is very valuable. Its illustrations,
consisting of colored engravings of plants ami flow
ers, are superb, making it one of the most beautiful
ornaments for tho drawing-room and boudoir.—
Young ladies who are engaged in the study of botany
or drawing will find it very servicablo. It. is edited
by Dr. A B. Strong, a scientific and practical Botanist.
It is issued iu monthly parts, each of which contains
sixteen lotter press pages and four illustrations, at
$3,00 per year, in advance.
The Southern Quarterly Review. Charles
ton : James S. Burgess.
The number for April, 1849, of this standard work
has just reached us. We have had time merely to
glance at its table of contents, which we give below,
j reserving further notice till next week,
i Art. I. Political Economy. 11. Modem Prose
Fiction. 111. Origin of the War with Mexico.
IV. Guizot's Democracy in France. Y. Slavery
and the Abolitionists. VI. Kail Road Routes to
California. VII. Critical Notices. VIII. List of
New Publications. IX. Literary Intelligence.
<E>ur iJooft 2Tablc.
Publishers and Authors who desire to have their
Books noticed in this Gazette are requested to send cop
ies to Editor through Stringer fit Townsend, New-York.
or Carey St Hurt, Philadelphia.
First Lessons in Botany; or. The Child's Kook
of Flowers. By Theodore Thinker, pp. 108.
New York : D. Austin Woodworth.
This is just tho thing for children. It was writ
ten for them, and in their own language, and makes
no pretensions to teach them what they could not
understand. All children love flowers. This love
should be cherished and developed by every means
within reach; for the lovo of tho beautiful, whether
in Nature or Art, is one of the most powerful aux
iliaries of virtue. The elements of Botany, as they
are presented in this little book, can be taught to
; children at a very early age. The work is illustra-
I ted with engravings, and is well adapted both to
! schools and families. We commc: J it to uaients
and teachers.
History of England, from tho Accession of James
11. By T. B. Macaulay. Vol. 11. Philadel
phia: E. H. Butler & Cos.
This volume contains an elegant engraved por
trait of the Author. We need hardly remind our
readers that this well-printed edition of Macaulay’s
History is published at the exceedingly low price of
twenty-five cents per volume. It contains all tho
! matter, verbatim et literatim, of the London Edi
tion.
•
Popular Cyclopedia of Modern Domestic Mkoj-
I cine. By Keith linray, rl. D. N. York: Gates,
Stedman & Cos.
We failed to receive tho second number of this
exceedingly valuable work, tho first number of
which we noticed several weeks ago. No. 11l is
now before us, and we take this occasion to,call the
attention of our readers again to it. We give it our
unqualified recommendation, ft is to be completed
in twelve weekly numbers, at twenty-five cents
each, and will form one large” Bvo. volume of 1000
pages, the epst of which, in numbers, will be oniv
three dollars. Asa manual of Anatomy, Phy.-:i.„*-
jgy and I’y?’ c, for the uso of families, it wb: >e
! invaluable. ; • ‘
/ hove Rooks are sold by Witj.a %
t \%7 A a • /I _
Wu i • ts, Cis.
393