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THE COUNTRYMAN.
79
Verbal Inacuracies.
Mr. Countryman :—The fact that we
w
are strangers to each other, is certainly not
a passport to your favor, and I should for
bear writing to you, were it not for the ad
miration of' your endeavo# to establish a
Southern literary paper.— It is, indeed,
very essential, at this time, for Southern
authors to impart a healthy tone to ourht
erature, which must be the mark of that
national greatness just now beginning. u ln
hoc signo vinces:'' and it must be free
from that effeminacy; I would remark
which is now characteristic of the T. S. Ar
thur school, and that “cacoethes scribendi"
which believes
<! ’Tis surely tine to see one's n ame in print,
A book’sa book,although there’snoth’ng in’t-”
This reflection leads me to an explicit dec
laratioti of what I cm ceive to be a great
error, which originated years ago, and,
growing daily, is fast becoming a g>eat
abuse. To it I wish to direct vour atten
tion, calling upon yon to apply the lash of
criticism, till the abuse is rectified. I re
fer to the carelessness of authors in using
words which destroy the harmony of a
sentence, and lay them hanle to the charge
of ineornpetency. For instance :—“I had
rather be right than piesiaent,” is often
quoted as the language of Clay. Should
it not be “would" instead of “had ?” “Ra
ther”* is defined as “ more willingly”—a
definition near enough to accuracy to an
swer our purpose in the present case. Let
us insert this for “ rather.” It then reads,
“I liad more willingly be right thaji presi
dent.” You at once perceive how devoid
of true scholarship must be those who use
“ had,” where “ would” should be placed.
Yet that renowned statesman is made to
say what a boy of 16 knows is wholly in
correct. Again: “ You had better do it.”
The same remarks apply, in this instance,
as before: and I think the error is appar
ent, and, farthei, cannot consent to be
lieve that Clay used “ had” in the first ex
ample. Will some of our authors, who
wish to defend such composition as the
above, throw the aegis of their protection
over them—(the phrases quoted)—at once?
Let them also give an analysis of this : “I
liked to died,” as I hear it frequently used.
Perhaps they prefer this, however : “I
liked to have died.” Well, either one you
please, as Ransom would say. But I fear
that I am growing wearisome.
If I have said anything which will cause
any to reflect, and you to apply your pen
to a reproval of the careless, I shall feel
repaid. My advice, however, may seem to
some altogether misplaced, as they are
aware, as well as I, of what is right. “Quod
est non opus asse carum est,” you know.—
Let those come out from among them,
then. If desirable, I will then retract
my words in their favor, who are de
termined to sustain the character of the
South, by regarding as the palladium of
her rights, a sound and distinguishing lite
rature. With great respect, your obedi
ent servant, Liss Brlton.—Greenville,
Ga., Nov. 15, 1862.
INVOCATION TO AN ABSENT BROTHER.
“Come home!
Would I could send my spirit o’er the deep;
Would I could wing it like a bird to thee,
To commune with thy thoughts, to fill thy’sleep
With these unwearying words of melody—
Brother, come home!
Come home !
Come to the hearts that love thee ; to the eyes
That beam in brightness but to gladden thine;
Come where fond thoughts like holiest rise;
W here cherish’d mem’ry rears her altar’s shrine,
Brother, come home !
Oome home!
Come to the hearthstone of thine earlier days;
Come to the ark, like the o’er-wearied dove;
Come with the sun light of tin heart’s warm rays;
Come to the fireside circle of thy love !
Brother, come home!
Come home!
It is not home withorn thee. The lone seat
Is still unclaimed where thou wast wont to be;
I i every echo of returning feet,
In vain we list for what should herald thee !
Brother, come home !”
The Evangelical Pulpit.
Yol. 1, no. 7, lias been received, contain
ing l sermon from Mr. Landrum, and 1
from Dr. Talrnage. This is a monthly pub
lication by Wilkes & Marshall, Forsyth,
Ga., at Si per annum. You could not ex*
pend a dollar to a better purpose than sub
scribing for the Pulpit, unless you should
lay it out for The Countryman.—Since
writing the ebove, I have received the 8th
no.
Epitaph on an Infant.
“ He took the cup of life to sip,
For bitter ’twas to drain ;
He put it meekly from his lip,
And went to sleep again.”
Evening Prayer.
(fok the children.)
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep:
If I should d ie before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
A Narrow Escape.
I very narrowly missed being elected
state printer, a few days ago, in Milledge-
ville. The small matter of 175 or 180
votes more, would have given me the post.
Considering the fact that I was no candi
date, and never even dreamed of the possi
bility of being a candidate, the vote which
I received was very flattering. My nu
merous friends supported me with singular
I unanimity. I return them every one my
thanks, feeling confident that though I fail
ed to • command success,’ vet I ‘ deserved
it.’—By the way, why did the Recorder fail
to report the vote which brother Wnmbwell,
and brother Adair, and I, each got ] I feel
like making it a personal matter, myself.
The other brethren can speak for them
selves.—And, by the way again, suppose
Adair, Wombwell & Turner had formed a
combination (so terrible to some of the de
feated candidates)—who can say we would
not have been elected ?
latest From Ethiopia.
“ Tom.—‘Say, Pomp, a liable darkey
tell me just now, dat Jeff Davis gwine to
’taliate ’bout de president’s proclamation.
He gwine to declare all de. niggers in de
Nort States slaves, arter de fust ob Jane-
wery next.—Pomp.—‘Bress us all !’ ”
Ink.
Mr. Countryman :—In looking over a
file ot an old paper, 1 find tin- following
recipe for making black writing ink, which
may prove valuable to you as well as your
readers, owing to the scarcity of the fluid.
Will you give it a tnal, and r< port the
result? J. 0. Harris.
Black Writing Ink.—“ Take 2 oz.ex
tract of logwood, 1 gal. soft water, simmer
gently in an iron vessel 15 minutes. Dis
solve in a little’bot water 24 grains bi-chro
mate potash, 12 grains prussiate potash,
add it to the liquid, arid stir a few minutes
over the fire, take it off, and when settled,
strain twice through common muslin. This
ink is jet black from the first, flows easily,
and is so indelible that even oxalic acid
will not remove it from the paper. It costs
about 40 cents per gallon.”
“We are sometimes less unhappy in be
ing deceived, than in being undeceived by
those we love.”
“A woman keeps her first lover long, if
she happens not to take a second.”
ADVEUTISEM ENT.
r |HiE COUNTKYMAN.—The Countryman is
always a welcome visitor. After a long week of
< aseless grubbing through dimly printed Dailies lor
items with which to satiate the greedy appetite for
war news and reliable gossip, it is a pleasant repast
to turn to the bright face ol the little Countryman,
and devour it palatable morsels of literature.—The
foregoing is from the Columbus Sun.—Dec. 1, 1862.