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58 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