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THE COUNTRYMAN.
element for us in this war, that we were a
people cursed on account of negro slavery.
Now that they are convinced that it is no
curse at all, either for the negro or the white
man, some of our own people are beginning
to get very tender on the subject: and
though they don’t strike at the root of sla
very, they propose to lop off one of its
twigs—ignorance. Negroes must be educa
ted, at least to a degree. Then they must
be allowed to intermarry, when, how, and
where they please : then they must be al
lowed to vote : then to bear arms : then
to do this thing : then the other : and so
on, until they would be slaves no more,
but for the fact that God liimsell has writ
ten slavery in every fibre of their being.
Once start out with the assumption that the
negro must have education (even to a de
gree) and then one thing, and then another,
because these things are sources of happi
ness or enjoyment to a superior race, and
but for the stern law of the Almighty, you
abolish negro slavery.
There are so many things to be said on
this subject that, for the present, I conclude.
I have a great deal more to write, when I
will perhaps attempt to point out the eirors
of Dr. Talmage’s letter, whose details I
have not touched in this article.
Writers ami Speakers.
“ Men whose reputation stands deserved
ly high as writers, have often miserably
failed as speakers. Their pens seem to have
been enriched at the expense of their
tongues. Addison and Gibbon attempted
oratory .in the senate, only to fail. ‘ The
^ood speakers,’ says Gibbon, 4 filled me.
with despair, the bad ones with apprehen
sion.’ And in more modern times, the
powerful depicter of Harold, arid the ele
gant biographer of Leo, have both failed in
oratory. The capital ofthe former is so great
in many things that lie can afford to fail
in one. But to return. Many reasons might
be offered to reconcile that contradiction
which my subject seems to involve. In
the first place, those talents that constitute
a fine writer, are more distinct from those
that constitute an orator, than might be at
first supposed. I admit that they may be
sometimes accidentally, but never necessa
rily combined. That the qualifications for
writing and those for eloquence,are in many
points distinct, would appear from the con
verse of the proposition, for there have
been many fine speakers who have proved
themselves bad writers. There is good
ground for believing that Mr. Pitt would
not have shone as an author; and the at
tempt of Mr. Fox in that arena has added
nothing to his celebrity. Abstraction of
thought, seclusion from popular tumult, oc
casional retirement to the study, a diffi
dence in our own opinions, a deference to
those of other men, a sensibility that feels
everything, a humility that arrogates noth
ing, are necessary qualifications for a wri
ter ; but their very opposites would per
haps be preferred by an orator. He that
has spent much of his time in a study will
seldom be collected enough to think in a
crowd, or confident enough to talk in one.
We may also add, that mistakes of the pen
in the study, may be committed without
publicity, and rectified without humiliation.
But mistakes of the tongue, committed in
the senate, never escape with impunity.
‘ Fugit irrcvocabile verbum (The word
uttered is irrevocable.) Eloquenco, to pro
duce her full effect, should start from the
head of the orator, as Pallas from the brain
of Jove, completely armed and equipped.
Diffidence, therefore, which is so able a
mentor to the writer, would prove a dam
gerous counsellor for the orator. As wri
ters, the most timid may boggle 20
times in a day with their pen, and it is their
own fault if it be known even to their
valet; but, as orators, it they chance to bog
gle once with their tongue, the detection is
as public as the delinquency ; the punish-
isliment is irremissible, and immediately fol
lows the offence. It is the knowledge and
the fear of this that destroys their elo
quence as orators, who have sensibility and
taste for writing, but neither collectedness
nor confidence for speaking: for fear not on
ly magnifies difficulties, but diminishes our
power to overcome them, and thus doubly
debilitates her victims. But another cause
of their deficiency as orators, who have
shone as writers, is this : ‘ mole ruunt sua.'
They know they have a character to sup
port by their tongue, which they have pre
viously gained by their pen. They rise
determined to attempt moie than other
men, and for that very reason they effect
less, and doubly disappoint their hearers.
They miss of that which is clear, obvious,
and appropriate, in a labored search after
that which is far-fetched, recondite, and re
fined ; like him that would fain give irs bet
ter bread than can be made of wheat. Af
fectation is the cause of this error, disgust its
consequence, and disgrace its punishment.”
Comptroller’s Report.
Friend Thweatt will please accept my
thanks for a copy of his Report. I shall
file it as one of my most highly prized doc
uments.
Extortion.
“ Flour has fallen $10 per bbl. in Atlan
ta, Ga. It is now $30 to $32. The specula
tors had put it up to $40. Is there no hemp
ther e ?—So asks the Huntsville Advocate.
To which an exchange replies :
Ther e is hemp enough, no doubt, and
stones enough, but who in Atlanta is inno
cent enough to ‘ cast the first stone,’ or to
use the hemp V’
You might not only ask this question
about Atlanta, but about every other local
ity.—There are more lying and hypocricy
about extortion and speculation than about
anything else. Everybody in Atlanta and
out of it, gets all he can for everything he
has to sell, but abuses everybody else for
doing the same.— Supply, demand, and a
redundant currency regulate all this. And
yet certain tiukerers think legislation can
remedy it all. They will only make mat
ters worse.
Substitute for Salt.
“ A writer in the Columbia Guardian pro
poses a substitute for salt for preserving
meat. It is, he says, pyroligenous acid,
which is made from any kind of hard wood,
and the quantity of acid obtained is nearly
one-half the weight of wood used. The
writer remarks :
This acid has been manufactured in the
neighborhood of the writer on a small scale,
and a few families have used it during the
summer and fall, for curing meat, and it is
a perfect success. It does not answer the
puipose of seasoning, but a small quantity
of salt does for that purpose. The only
objection to it, if it may be called one, is,
that it imparts a smoky flavor to the meat.
It should be condensed in a copper tube or
pipe, as iron turns it black. I desire to do
no more than call attention to the subject,
hoping that we may soon see.several distil
leries in operation, turning cut at least 1500
gallons per day. Twelve or 15 gallons
will cure 1000 lbs. of meat.”
Brimstone.
“The Renagade ‘Clift’ is said'to have
bis headquarters at Brimstone, a small
stream in Scott County, Tennessee. The
old scamp is said to have a considerable
number with him, skulking through the
mountains, and occasionally making a dash
upon some unprotected settlement, burning
and destroying.”—So says the Knoxville
Register.
Never mind, brother Register. He will
change his head-quarters after awhile, tko’
he will still be in the neighborhood of brim
stone. Where could you find a more ap
propriate locality for him 1