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the creek swamp : the coon and the pos
sum still roam the wild forest: the squir
rel still chatters in the tree; the hickory-
nut, walnut, chestnut, and cliinquepin still
lade the wild harvest of autumn : but my
boyhood’s friends—where are they ? Scat
tered and gone—some to distant lands, and
some to the dreary mansion of .the dead.
Soon those of us who survive, must follow
them: and death is not all gloom : the
hand that was pierced on Calvary has
painted a silver lining to the shroud. My
soul—
“So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
Ilis chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave, at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and
soothed,
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,
Like one that draws the drapery of his couch
About him. and lies down to pleasant dreams!”
Another (Jlorious Victory.
Last week I chronicled the splendid vic
tory obtained for the South by the estab
lishment of a cotton and wool eardfactoiy
at•Cartersville, Ga. Another victory still
more splendid (if possible) has been achiev*
ed upon Georgia soil. Hurrah for Geor
gia ! Read* the following from the last
Christian Index, and rejoice. Under the
head of New Publishing House, that pa
per says :
“We have entered into partnership with
experienced business men, for the publi
cation of books, papers, &c., and have se
cured several presses—both Hoe’s and Ad
ams’—an engine, a complete book bind
ery, with a largo amount of stock, and will,
in a few days, be prepared to enter upon
the publishing business in all its branches.
We will publish, immediately, a large
edition of Webster’s Elementary Spelling
Book, Smith’s Grammar, nnd other useful
and needed works. We expect a stereotype
foundry to he established in connection
with om office, under the care of an expe
rienced workman, and wc will be prepared
for jobs'of all sorts and sizes Our main
attention will he turned to supplying the
pressing wants of schools, by supplying,
grammars, spelling,and reading books. We
will soon issue a prospectus, and solicit ord
ers for the works we intend publishing.
The name of the firm will he Burke,
Boykin & Co., and authors desiring to pub
lish salable books, aie requested to cornu; u-
nicate with us at Macon, Ga.
The establishment will he an extensive
and efficient one—capable of printing and
binding in the best style.
THE COUNTRYMAN.
Our own paper, the Index, will share
the advantage of this arrangement, and, as
soon as we can get the new presses in op
eration, will appear in a much-improved
garb. ”
Now, who that knows anything about the
curse entailed upon the world by abolition
literature, will say that this is not a splen
did victory ? I have studied this subject
so long, and so thoroughly, and my life has
so long been devoted to the cause of see
ing the South independent in her books,
her journals, and her literature, that no
one need be surprised that I am all excite
ment and enthusiasm on hearing ofthelore-
going victory,
But to drop the metaphor: The" new
publishing bouse js in excellent hands.
Messrs. Burke and Boykin are both young
.men, in the prime of life, known far and
near for their energy and persevereanee,
and are “clever fellows” in the companion
able sense of the word, notwithstanding
the former is a Methodist preacher, and the
latter a Baptist minister. This I consider
fortunate : for it is a guarantee that the ,
new House will not assume a sectarian cast. 1
And row, John and Sam, let me charge
you that ye fall not out by the way : don’t
get into any scrimmage about baptizing
ahd rhantizmg (though you both, and 1
too, may be allowed to rant as much as we
please about the new publishing house) and
glorious success will be yours.
Tlaisting Cotton.
I see that Mr. Stephens recommends the
planting of cotton next year. His states
manship is at fault, here, certain. If our
people follow his advice, we are ruined, and
that without remedy.
The Providential Bullet.
“ When Oliver Cromwell entered upon
the command of the Parliament’s army
against Charles I, he ordered that every
soldier should carry a Lible in his pocket*
Among the rest there was a wild, wicked
young fellow, who ran away from his* ap
prenticeship in London, for the sake ot
plunder and dissipation. Being one day
•ordered out on a skirmishing expedition, or
I to attack some fortress, he returned, to his
quarters ill ihe evening without hurt.
When he was going to bed, pulling his bi-
ble out of his pocket, he observed a bullet-
bole in it, the depth of which he traced till
he found the bullet had stopped in Eccle
siastes xi, 9 : ‘ Rejoice, O young man, in
thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in
the days of tby youth, and walk thou in
the ways of tby heart, and in the sight of
thine eyes, hut know thou that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment.’
The words were sent home upon his heart
by the Divine Spirit, so that he became a
sincere believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He lived in London many years after the
civil war was over.”
At the 1st battle of Manassas, a hible or
a testament, in the pocket ot 1 of the sol
diers, saved his life. This incident was
published in many papers as showing that
there was something providential in it, and
was urged as an argument in fayor of the
soldiers’ carrying bibles in their pockets.
(This they certainly ought to do, and in
their hearts too.)
But unfortunately tor the theory of those
who published the occurrence for the pur
pose they had in view, another incident oc
curred at the 1st battle of Manassas. I learn
from a young man, in whom 1 have every
confidence, that the son of a distinguished
Georgia statesman had a deck of cards in
his breast-pocket, anrl that these stopped
the ball which would otherwise have pierc
ed his vitals. Is this an argument in favor
of carrying a deck of cards in the breast
pocket ?
I am aware that I lay myself, liable to
censure from a certain class of religionists,
for publishing the last above occurrence.
But it seems to me that all the occurrences
mentioned, teach us a lesson which we
should ponder seriously, in order to form a
just appreciation of the. character of the
Almighty. God is not a God to be turned
from bis purpose, or to suspend for every
trivial occurrence, the great laws upon
whose certainty and uniformity depend the
well being and happiness of all his crea
tures. There is a great physical law en
acted by the Supremo Ruler ot the uni
verse, for good and sufficient purposes, that
when a projectile strikes any object which
offers sufficient resistance,. the momentum
offtlie missile is overcome, and the. projec
tile stops. It matters not whether the ob
struction is a hible or a deck of cards—the
operation of the law is the same, and the
result is the same. Hence a button on a
person’s coat—a watch in his pocket—or
I any similar thing, has been known to save
many a man’s life, whose moral character
| would not wan ant the belief of any special
providence in iiis behalf : while, on the oth
er hand, many a good man’s life has been
cut short, when it would appear to man’s
weak mind, that Providence ought certainly
to interposein his behalf. But God’s ways,
and God’s providence are inscrutable to
the human eve. It is presumptuous for
man to pretend to know what God should