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THE COUNTRYMAN. • - JL- .. JL . - a M. 1 V_y V—/ 1 -JL. -JL- -A. ▼. JL- —A— _JL_ ^ m BY J. A. TURNER. —“brevity .is the sotm of wit$1 A YEAR. VOL. III. TURNWOLD, PUTNAM COUNTY, GA., MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1862. NO. 4. “The Old Place.’ Not many weeks ago, I stood beside the grave, and assisted to consign to her long home, a lady who was my class-mate at school, but a few short years ago. We buried her at “ the old place,” down by the waters of Crooked Creek, away off from the road-side, amid the oaks that stand fit sentries over her own grave, her father’s and her mother’s. It seems but yesterday that this deceased lady’s family presented an unbroken circle of parents and children, joyous, happy, undisturbed by the shadow of the d/irk visitor. Now the father and mother sleep side by side, and one daugh ter and a son sleep by them. One son is a wanderer far away, one is in a distant county in this state, 2 daughters reside away from the old homestead, and still an other son sleeps his long sleep upon the bloody soil of the Old Dominion, oneofthe long line of martyrs whose blood cries from the ground for vengeance. Only one rep resentative of the family is left at the old home. And all this change has taken place in the course of a few—a very few years. As I stood beside the grave of my de ceased friend, all these thoughts came over my mind : and it was sad—very sad !—to look back and see the ravages of time. But anon pleasant reminiscences came in like stars to gem the night of sorrow that brood ed around my heart, and the feelings they brought were pleasant, though mournful to the soul. There has always been for me a charm about “ the old place.” The mag ic scenes of childhood £re indissolubly con nected with it. There was more of ro mance about this “ old place” for my child ish imaginings than about any other I wot of. - Its reminiscences are connected with my friends whose relations have never been disturbed through all the mutations time has wrought. Many a cloud has span ned my sky since the mystery of life has shrouded me : but from these friends has al ways come sunshine. When I was quite g boy, they moved up nearer to me, and hence the home which they left, took the name of “ the old placed’ The first charm of this “ old place” is that it is such a secluded spot, It is situa ted away off from the road-side, and you never see it unless you go specially to see d. And still it is perfectly convenient to churches, schools, mills, and all the other conveniences of the neighborhood. There are two approaches to it, each one of which leads through a dense wood. You go over hill and valley, along a narrow road, with giant trees on either hand, until the first thing you know, the old rustic mansion, amid oaks and cedars, looms up before you. To my childish thought, it almost seemed fairy-land. It was very dear to me as a child, and I will give some of the reasons why it was so. Here I used to hunt and fish with my friends. I had no possum dog, but they had one whom they called Bringer. Brin- ger was a cur, of a reddish color, and was a good tree dog. With this dog my friends and I used to go out in the woods upon the creek, hunt the possum and the coon amid the hoots of the owl, and hear Isaac talk and laugh. And such laughter ! If any one has ever seen any other colored gen tleman who could beat Isaac laughing, then I envy him. And Isaac lives to laugh yet! When he laughs, he begins with a low chuckle, grows louder by degrees, and then fairly screams. You have heard of being “'convulsed with laughter.” If you wish to see convulsions from laughter, you should see Isaac. He seems to have the St. Vi tus’s dance, and you had better be out., of bis reach when he does begin to laugh: fos you can no more prevent his striking you than you can prevent the sparks from fly ing upward. * Besides hunting the possum witli Brin- ger, I used fo bunt birds and squirrels with my young friends who bad a shot-gun be fore one was allowed me. My father was always very backward in allowing me to have a gnn, because he was afraid of acci dents: but my friends, who were a little older than myself, had a sliot-gun, and a good gun it was. Jim, and John, and I us ed to hunt together, and-they kindly al lowed me my turn in shooting. Many were the birds and squiirels we used to kill. We not only hunted, but we fished on Crooked Creek—sometimes with the hook, and sometimes with the seine. And then when autumn came, what quantities of chinquepins, muscadines, and hickory-nuts we used to gather ! Down on the creek is a place called Slip- ery Hill, where my friends used to go with their wooden slides, and slide down the steep slope. 1 was always very anxious to go to this hill,bntsomehow it happened that I never did so, and I have never seen it, up to this time. The greatest attraction of all, though, to my childish mind, at *' the old place,” was “ Lige,” and his drums, his cross-bows, and his wagons.—In a future article I will tell you about “ Lige.” —. * ■»•- - Dress, “ Sterne was very fastidious about his diess when be desired to write those essays,, which, though apparently so easy, were the result of great labor and care. When lie was ill-dressed, he found that his thoughts were slovenly. It is stated of the late ac complished and beloved divine, Rev. Dr. Nettleton, that when about to enter his study, ho first carefully made his toilet. Haydn, also, that eminent master of mu sic, used to dress himself with particular care before he sat down to composition. Unless his hair was properly powdered, and* he had his best coat on, his mind would not work with exactness and vigoi. He remarked that it roused his intellectual energies still further to place on his finger the diamond ring presented to him by Fred eric II., and to have the finest paper be fore him.” I. Sylla. “When L. Sylla beheld liis army giv ing way before that of Archelaus, the Gen eral of Mithridates, lie alighted from his horse, laid hold of qn ensign, and rushing with it into the midst of his enemies, cried out, ‘.’Tis here, Roman soldiers, that I in tend to die : but for your parts, when you shall be asked where it was that you left your general, remember to say, it was on the field of Orchomemum.’ The soldiers, roused by this speech, returned to their ranks, renewed the fight, and became the victors in that field from which they were about to flee with disgrace.” Demetrius. “ When Detremius took Athens by as sault, he found the inhabitants in extreme distress for want of corn. He called the principal citizens before him, and announ ced to them, in a speech full of humanity and conciliation, that lie had ordered a large supply of grain to be placed at their free disposal. In the course of speaking, he chanced to commit an error in gram mar, on which one of the Athenians im mediately corrected him, by pronouncing aloud the phrase as it ought to have been given. ‘ For the correction of this one solecism,’ said he, ‘I give, besides my for mer gift, 5,000 measures of corn more.’ ”