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46 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