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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.