About The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1887)
1, THE SUNNY SOUTH, ATLANTA, GA, SATURDAY MORNING, JANUARY 8, 1887. 5 THE(Mm\Y PrflLOSOPHQt Twenty-two years ago the New Year was not calm and serene to any of our folks. For three or four months we had been tempest- tossed in vain effor«s to find a safe retreat from the foul invader, but he seemed to be hanker ing specially after my lovely wife and off spring, and everywhere we went he came un til finally we got away round behind him and had a little troubled rest. Our hearts yearned for the home we had been driven from on that eventful night, and so when we heard that Rome had been evacuated we determined to make a bee-line for the eternal city. For seme weeks we had been hiding out on the Chattahoochee and by the help of kindred had been able to live and enjoy some anxious tran quility, but the country was infested with other omtlaws who claimed to be soldiers, and our kindred were kept busy and excited in hiding what little there was left. The family silver was interred under the stone hearth in the family room. A few sides of bacon were buried in a box that we sunk in the bottom of a deep gully, and some hams and shoulders were hid in the old blacksmith shop on the river bank. "We buried it darkly, at dend of night. While the lantern was diuly burning.’* We excavated a large hole in the hearth of the shop—the place where the bellows blows and the charcoal was piled up, aad after we put the meat in place we covered everything as it was, at d put the old coal basket right on the top where we found it. Several other “cairns" were established, and all of them proved safe but two. Whether they were robbed by ne groes or tramps or outlaws was never known. A bout the close of the year we made prepare tions to go home. We loaded a covered wagon with our goods and chatties and some meat and meal and a supply of corn and fodder, and two or three cooking utensils, and a coffee pot, and some coffee made of rye and goobers and sweet potatoes parched and mixed, some sorghum syrup, a puppy dog, and a gun or two well h aded, and a few other primitive tricks, and felt amazing rich that we had so much to begin the world with—so much that others did not have. Our oldest boy was then about fifteen, and had sense and self-reliance like a man. for he had been with me in the army in Virginia, and had been bumped around smartly, and was used to trouble. So we started him and our faithful friend Tip with the covered wagon and team, and we followed after in a one- horse rockaway. There were only seven chil dren then and none to spare. The weather was col 1 and the roads in an awful condition, for they had not been worked in a year or two, and we had to cut our way around the and patch up the little bridges ii rf-- m-tm ■ ~ and make haste slowly, but we were going home and that inspired us to encounter every thing. We got along pretty well the fir** day and night, but on the second day, as we neared the Etowah river, we struck that desolate and deserted country known as Sherman’s belt—that same Sherman “who was so care less about fire.” Steele’s bridge was ahead of us and was said to be the only one left. The ferries were all abandoned and the boats gone, so we pressed forward to the bridge, and as we mounted the hill that o rerlooked it we were surprised to see our boy and Tip and some other refugees carrying plank from an outhouse to the bridge. The floor was gone and they were contriving a way to get the wagons across. They picked up enough plank of one sort or another to lay two row's lengthways across the bridge, a row for the wheels on each side of the wagon. It was slow’ work and perilous work to put the plank down on the open sleepers, but they did it, and then carefully pulled and pushed the wag ons across. The surging waters away do wn among the rocks some forty feet below, had no terrors to exiles going home. After get ting the vehicles across the bridge the horses ami mules were swum across the river a short distance below, and all were safely landed on the homeward side. We were soon on our way rejoicing. Tip and the older boys went before so that the anxious mother could keep in sight of her ‘bairns’ and now that we were in that territory of outlaws of whom we heard terrible accounts, we all began to look out and Iis en f >r the tramp of their horses’ hoofs upon the highway. The dark and dismal night caught us as we neared an old shell of a schoolliouse by the way, and so we halted and took possession and built up a rousing fire in the old log-built fireplace. The house had been used for anybody’s stable, but we cleaned up a corner and scattered the myriads of fleas around and put them in circu lation and then spread down an old quilt and put a bed upon it and fixed up the mother and her babies pretty well, considering that this was war. An old log stable was near by and it had a long old-fashioned feed trough that was made of half of a hollow log. We put our stook in the stable and fed them in one end of the trough and our big boy slept in the other end with his gun by his side. Tip kept up the lire all night and it shone brightly through the big cracks and kept the stable and the wagon in sight. MiHes and horses were precious then—more precious than gold. By daylight Tip was cooking breakfast and making our coffee, and it did not take long to make our morning toilet. We had to get some water from a branch near by and wash our faces, and that was all. The sun didn’t rise that day and the mist and the clouds were thick and heavy. We were soon all aboard and expected to reach Rome aid home by night. The road was hilly and rough and grew almost impas sable as we got into the dark chocolate lands of Bartow. By noon the rain began to fall and soon changed to a sleet. By and by we pass d Felton’s chapel and then Cass station, where the depot had been burned, and the air was odoriferous with carcasses of dead horses. It was a horrible sight. We took the Cassville road, and found nothing left of that beautiful town—nothing but lonesome chimneys and the tottering walls of the colleges and brick mansions that had not long before been the happy homes and the ornaments of a prosper ous and cultured vil age. All the day long we had looked and longed to see some living thing—a man, a boy, a negro, a dog, a hog, a bird—anything to break the spell of utter des olation. There was nothing animate except the buzzards that now and then took their heavy flight from some carcass by the way. There was hardly a house left—none that were occupied. No cattle or sheep, no rooster to crow, < rd g to bark. Night—dark night—overtook us live miles from Rome, and those five miles are a horror to me now. I think I grew older that night by a year at least, perhaps five. The road could not be seen, and some of the gullies were fear ful. But Tip and our boy never faltered nor wilted. Sometimes, when the team seemed reluctant, they would stop and one go ahead and explore and then try it again. Fences are sometimes a glimmer ng guide in the darkness, but there were no fences. We had not seen one all the day. Wearily and anxiously we nioved a ong, expecting every moment to break down or be capsized and then—an, then, what would the mother and the childre n do in this pitiless storm of sleet. When we reached the suburbs of town the mule team came squ ere up against a fallen tree,and on exploring there were several in the way, for it was an abandoned camp and the trees had been cut down for fire wood. It took us an hour to turn round and find another route. It seemed to me then that we spent half a night right there hunting for a way. But at last we got into the town—the town where street lamps used to burn and a thousand welcome lights were in the windows of happy homes. Now all was dark and lone some and as silent as the grave. By ten o'clock we were in front of a kinsman’s house, and a glimmering light shone through the curtained- window lattice. Oh, happy moment—bles sed relief! I actually felt weak from the reaction that followed from the long and intense anxiety. I knocked eagerly at the door and a voice of alarm said “Who is that, and what do you want?" It was some moments before I could convince liim that I was not an outlaw or a robber, and it took him sometime to unlock and unbar his door. There was but a hand e n\ of people in the desolated town and they lived in greater appre hension than when the federals were there. The outlaws and deserters from both armies were perusing the country and pillaging and r >bbing for what little there was left. They had killed poor Omberg a short while before because he dared to intercede and remonstrate against their brutality to old fatner Quinn. I must pause to say that Nicolas Omberg was a brave and noble-hearted man. Rome never had a better citizen. His wife was already dead, and now hie little children were left or phans in the worst of all times, and there was no avenger of blood. Tbo*e children in some way survived the great calamity, and have prospered, and are respected in the land. Those same outlaws killed old man Pryor while his boys were in the army, and when John returned, he, in some way, got their names and haunts, and pursued them. When ever he found one he killed him without warn ing. He went from Georgia to Texas on his desperate mission, and never stopped or rested until he had exterminated all but two. He was the avenger of blood. No wonder that the doors were locked and barred and the lights kept dimly burning. War is horrible enough, but the absence of all law and all restraint is worse, for the weak and defenceless are then at the mercy of the strong. Of course we found our dwelling sacked and gutted of its furniture. We left it full and found it a skeleton; indeed the whole town was a skeleton. A good portion had been destroyed by the very able man who was so careless about fire, and what was left was empty. Even the churches were empty—not a pew nor a seat left. My own house had been used as headquarters, and the telegraph wire was still hanging in the parlor. There was not a paling nor a plank around the prem ises. There was a new stable about sixty feet long for the horses of the General and his staff, and the troughs were made of the pews of the churches. We moved into our house and called it home. We borrowed some beds and bedding and a chair or two from kind nabors and settled down. I hail some confederate money, but it wouldn’t buy much. 1 gave three thousand .dollirs for a chunk of a cow, the only one I could hear of that was for sale in the county. I brought ten bushels of com down the river and kept it hid out from the scouts and out laws, but they got half of it anyhow. We lived through the winter—a hard winter—and I reckon we could do it again, but we don’t want to, and are now thankful for the com forts of life and the security that comes from peace and well regulated laws. “Modern Lady Novelists.” Editor Sunny South : “What a strange custom,” exclaims Thackeray, “that is in mod ern lady novelists to make the men bully the women!” There’s no denying that Mr. Roch ester did “bully" poor little Jane to his heart’s content, and there’s no denying also, th A it was quite a relief, after such a surfeit of the old-time rommees, “Thaddeus of Warsaw” for instance, in which Thackeray acknowled ges there is more crying than in any novel he can bear n mind. No wonder he could not Lay “Ja le Eyse” down until he had read every word of it. The bullying must have proved no less relieving to him. Charlotte Bronte, how ever, is not the only “modem lady novelnt.” Here and there we find them, and we rarely fail 'x> gran them a hearing, whether we ap prove of them or not. Every body knows what spasms of delight “St. Elmo" elicited on its first appearance; and everybody knows t>o, how overdrawn it was confessed to be by its inosi ardent ad uirers. If ever a woman was bullied by the man she loved, that woman was Tfffnr i-.ane—aim oy sU ii “^feTnai for nothing save the ease with which he d ffed his religion to murder his dearest friend, and donned it again to win over Vie only creature who refused to bow the knee to bim. The slightest look, word or act of relenting, and St. Elino Murry would have tuned haughtily away with a “No I thank you, Miss Earle." One can almost see in fancy the great English satirist’s eyes twinkle, as he puts the question point blank, with his customary insinuating impudence, to the “modern lady novelist," as if she and her her oine were one. “Is tt true Madame, that you like rudeness, and are pleased at being ill-used by men?” O, no, Monsieur, not at all; she would be the first to fly to your chivalrous arms for protection. She is only writing a novel, and she has gone to Milton’s descrip tion of Lucifer for an idea. Her hero is of the thunder and lightning variety relieved by a few brief seasons of sunshine, blue sky and honied zephyrs; and with his touching cry of peccavi forever piercing the aerial regions he would draw an angel down from Heaven—a female angel. Thackeray declares that when business obliges him to do the love passages in his nov els, 1 hough quite alone in his study, he blushes until you might think he were going off in a fit of apoplexy. Does the “modern 1 idy nov elist” blush when she has this delicate busi ness on hand? I do not believe it. She takes care it shall not be so sacchariferous as all that. She knows how to serve it up a mixture of “vinegar, sugar and spice and all that’s nice." Possibly this is why the author of “ The New-comes" cackles so irreverently be hind the backs and over the shoulders of his young people—to hide his own embarrassment.. And Dickens too, as tender as he is, cannot forbear trotting in Aunt Betsy and Mr. Dick at the most inopportune occasions to create a diversion and restore the equilibrium. But it must be remembered the “modern l.ady nov elist" is a woman and not inclined to make sport of an affaire (V amour. She will not show up her hero in a ridiculous li ght. Indeed she cannot afford to do so. She has no lift long acquaintance with him; no such motherly attachment as will love him in spite of hi* foibles, and blind you to them likewise. She has no use for his child hood, unless to snatch from it a stray virtue or two to prop up his broken-down character. No she turns him out a man from the begin ning with great big faults, such as murder or concealing a crazy wife in the garret; and she admires him and stands in awe of him herse.f all the way through, and yon may do the same, bat you shall not laugh at him. Surprising, tha . women-like rudeness? They do not. They have a weakness for heroes; that canrn t be denied; and they are somewhat inclined to believe that “huffing is a part of valor,” at least an outward sign of the inward spirit; that “pretensions do not unitorinly be speak non-performance;" for, did not “Al- manzor in Drjden, talk of driving armies singly before him—and do it? Luther, how ever, might he as tender to his “Kathie” as he pleased, as he was to all yo mg maidens, be cause they were maidens. It was not at all necessary to master her to prove his master fulness. He had mastered the Pope long be fore, and sbf* knew it was in him. Ah, what a glorious hero he would have made in a novel! Viroinia. ODR PICTURE GALLERY PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN AND WOMEN. Baroness Burdette Coutts. The English Baroness Burdette Coutts whose marriage with the young American Mr. Ellis Ashmead Bartlett in 1881 created so much sensational comment is reported as being seri ously ill. Baroness Burdette Coutts the youngest daughter of Sir Francis Burdette besides being one of the richest is now one of the most noted women of the world. All the circumstances attending the opposition tohtr marriage to Mr. Bartlett are pretty well known. Part of the agreement attei ding the marriage was that the usual order of taking another name, was reversed, Mr Bartlett assuming that of Burdette Couti s. Angeli a Georgian Bartlett Coutts was born in 1814 and ulti mately became the heiress to an immense in- The Cramps came before Roach, and if they had located on the banks of the Clyde instead of the Delaware they would have built up a village which would have spread their own name and almost assured them feudal service from the three generations that have worked in their yards. Charley Cramp could tell of the times when they made the old clothes do for the second year, and when spending money seldom rat tled in the pocket. The men who have worked with them for more than a generation and have been wielding the hammer with brawny arms, the sons who, as children toddled around the yard, are Americans who have long forgot ten that they ever owed allegiance to any oth er country, and their regard for the name of Cramp grows with the industry of the yards. Frank Lawler. Congressman Frank Lawler, of Chicago, who has been returned to Congress by sixteen votes, and who startled the proprietors of the hotel by telegraphing for a room for himself and “sweet sixteen,” has been organizing a miniature boom to make Colonel Morrison clerk of the House for the Fiftieth Congress. Frank Lawler was born at Hochester, New BARONESS BURDETTE COUTTS. come of 30,000,00 lbs. Possessed of great energy and unusual determination, she has achieved many things which were considered impossible, and she is to-day one of the great est benefactresses in England, having spent most of the income of 3,000,000 lbs. left her by her paternal grand parent in erecting churches in the poorest parts of London, in founding missions in Africa and in making a survey and instituting improvements in the ancient city of Jerusalem. She participated at Queen Victorias wedding, being one of the bridesma ds of the occasion, and is a particu lar friend of FI irence Nightingale, whose name became illustrious through her philanthropic exertions in relieving the sufferers of the Crimean War. Under one of the provisions of the will which gave Miss Coutts her wealth, was that she could not marry a foreigner and her money could go to no one but an English man. F’ortunately Mr. Ashmead Barth tt whom she married although an American by birth, was able to show that his grandfather, Ellis Bartlett, was an Englishman, and having never been naturalized while in this country, never forfeited the claims of his descendants. John Roach. Ship building on the Delaware was made fa mous through the lion. John Roach, and who also may he said to have built the city of Ches ter, Pa., at least he has been instrumental in making the city what it is tiwla.v, a great ship building metropolis. Mr. lioach was born in Ireland, mt was reared in America in the city of New York. Prior to his starting in business FRANK LAWLER. York, June 23th, 1842. He attended the ordi nary public schools until he arrived at the age of thirteen, when, owing to a serious accident which befell his father, he was compelled to leave school and seek employment in a brick yard, where he continued to labor for two years, becoming a news agent on the railroads for three years. Subsequently he learned the trade of ship-building, and in time was elect ed president of the Ship-carpenters and Ship- caulkers’ Association, and took an active part, in organizing trade and labor unions. He be came agent for “The Workingman’s Advo cate,” a newspaper published in the interest of the toiling masses, and was appointed upon the request of the trade and labor organiza tions to a position in the Chicago postoffice, which lie held from 1809 to 1877 inclusive. Mr. Lawler was elected a member of the Chicago City Councils from the Eighth Ward in April, 1870, and wigs re-elected in 1878, 1880, 1882 and 1884. He engaged in business in the year of 1878, at Chicago, as a liquor merchant, and was elected to the Forty-nintli Congress as a Democrat, receiving 13,054 votes against 11,652 votes for John F. Finerty, In dependent Republican, and 23 votes for Kel- lett, Prohibitionist. Mr. Lawler’s re-election to Congress was a very close one, and he may well congratulate himself on his small major ity. Reverend William F. Eaton. The proposed Sinaloa Colony to be establish ed in Mexico, which is to be a paradise for the The Old Kings and Queens. Brief Biographical Sketches of the Crowned Heads of England. ENGLISH HISTORY CONDENSED. JOHN ROACH. The Two Shelleys. [London Spectator.] We have said before (and in this we differ from those who take the most unfavorable view of Shelley) that we believe him to have been at the close of his short life coming to a sort of late years of discretion on several points on which he had up to that time been astray. But, however that may be, tlia Shelley of the Life remains in reality a child; n. child who did one very disgraceful thing—we do not mean the running away wiih Mary Godwin, but the desertion of Harriet Westbrook—and a thous and very silly ones. As for the Shelley of the Poems, that is quite a different person, the greatest master of English rhythm since the early seventeenth century, the greatest master of pure word craft apart from meaning in poe try since English was English. But between these two Shelleys there is no necessary con nection, for Shakspeare—Shelley’s only supe rior in certain ways—was a citizen of credit and renown, and Wordsworth, who, however infinitely below him as a rule, sometimes equals his music, was the very i* carnation of humdrum middle-class respectability. on his o vn account, he was a common work man in the Allaire Works; at this place he soon advanced himself, through his adaptabili ty to business, to the position of foreman, after which he established himself in business with a very small capital, but his old employers re commendations assisted him to a moderate credit and his natural force soon gave him prominence. In 1807 he was financially able to purchase the Morgan Iron works for about §400,000 and in 1808 the Neptune works for §150,000 and two years later the Franklin forge for §125,OIK) and also a large property at Chester, Pa., where he subsequently put in op eration the extensive works, known as the Delaware River Iros Ship building and Engine Works, of which corporation Mr. Roach was the president and owner. He is the builder of numbers of vessels for the United States gov ernment, having been given the contract for the ships Dolphin, Boston, Atlanta and Chica go. The Boston was finished in the month of August, 188f>, and the unfortunate Dolphin, which cause l John Roach so much trouble, by having been rejected by the government, under he Cleveland administration, was at last transferred to the government through negoti ations between Mr. Roach and Secretary Whit ney, of the United States Navy. The ships built at the Chester ship-yards are desirable acqui itiom to the U. S. Naval force, even if they are not all that might be desired in the standard of speed. The assignment made by Mr. Roach in July 18815 has been bridged over and the rumors that the business would be formed into a stock company, have no founda tion whatever, as Mr. Roach has said that the CHARLES CRAMP. business would remain with members of his family. Charles Cramp. Charley Cramp, as he is familiary called, of the firm of William Cramp and Sons, is adopt ing a policy in the American ship-building line which is meeting with much success. He speaks very encouragingly in reference to the labor situation and says their men will now be kept busy for an indefinite period. The firm ia connection with other orders has received one from the Government, through the agency of Secretary Whitney. The design for the ves sel, which is to make not less than twenty knots an hour, has already been completed and work on the new vessel will shortly be started. Charley Cramp in speaking of dull times says: “English shipbuilders, when there is a lack of orders, build ships to be sold to chance purchasers in the future, but we find it better to shut downjas soon as the work on hand is completed, but there seems to be no prospect of shutting down, as work usually comes in in time to avoid this." GEORGE I. In 1013 Elizabeth Stuart, the daughter of James I., whose beauty won her from her hundreds of admirers the title of “Queen of Hearts,” left England to become the wife of Frederic Elector Pala.ine, and for a brief sea son King of Bohemia. No one guessed then that in little more than a hundred years the grandson of this princess would return to as sume the sovereignty over the island she was leaving. Yet a train of unexpected circum stances brought about just this event: Charles II. left no legitimate offspring; the daughters of James II. died childless; his son was ex cluded by the act of settlement which cut off members of the Churdh of Rome from suc ceeding to the crown. Thus it came about that Sophia, the youngest daughter of Eliza beth, and the only one who remained in the JYotestant faith, became the heiress of the three kingdoms. She was ajprincess of much beauty, shrewdness and wit. Fortunately for her posterity—perhap* fortunately for the British Nation—she married the Protestant Elector of Hanover, and thus did not lose the religion upon which the wearing of a Kingly crown depended. It was not per mitted her to wear that crown. In her last years, she became very desirous that it should be inscribed upon her tomb that she had been Queen of Great Britian. This happiness she very narrowly missed, as she preceded Queen Anne to the grave by only a few weeks, at the advanced age of eighty-four. Her son, George, evinced no elation at the greatness thrust upon him by the accident of birth. Had the Cheva lier even then declared himself a Prostestant, ready to take oath against transubstantiation, and thus removed the only obstacle in the way of his succession, the elector would not have taken the disappointment greatly t) heart. For he loved his native land with an ardent de votion. He regarded his transference to a fairer and richer domain much in the light of a banishment. Though he had been for a doz en years or more heir presumptive to the Brit ish throne, and enrolled under the title of Duke of Cambridge as a member of the Brit ish Aristocracy, Queen Anne had nezer con sented for him to sit in her House of Lords. He had in fact never put his foot upon the island, nor could he speak a word of the English language. Ho was thus well fitted to be just what the country most needed—a good figure head under whose nominal rule the people would manage their own concerns. George in fact never pretended any love for his new kingdom or feigned any deep interest in her affairs. Though not gifted with any large measure of intellect, he had a rough common sense that taught him that the English did not take him from any love, but simply as a choice of evils; anddoubti ig all the time, as well he might, REVEREND WILLIAM F. EATON. working man is gathering perceptible forces from New England’s coast line villages. The scheme originated with Albert K. Owen of New York and th? actual and spiritual leader of the movement is the Rev. William F. Eaton. The people who are going into the movement have never even sent a man to look at the country, to which they are to be taken, but accept what is told them and in some cases expect to find Paradise restored to them on the coast of Mexico. Every possible attempt has been made to get them to see the mistake they are making, prominent Knights of Labor have tried to reason with them and men who have been on the spot where “Pacific City" is to be located have published statements as to the desolate nature of the country, and the unproductiveness of the land but despite all that has been said or published not only do the old stockholders remain firm but every day new members are being enrolled. The Rev. William F. Eaton is in old man, who in his youth and after da.,. has been identified with anti-slavery, temperance, greenback and other issues of moment in the past and present. He is energetic in all the present schemes of the colony and says they will go as a peaceful people, eager to find homes where no one will be rich and no one poor, and where there will be no distinction of classes. Rev. Edward McGlynn. Reverend Dr. Edward McGlynn has won much publicity by his open advocacy of Henry George theories, which are said to be opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and REV. EDWARD McGLYNN. he has been summoned to Rome to explain certain of his utterances in the recent campaign. Dr. McGlynn has declined to saj r much in re gard to the matter, as messages from the Vati can always allow a reasonable time in such cases for the priest to set the affairs of his parish in a good running order before depart ure. I)r. McGlynn is very popular with the wide circle of his parishioners and the opinion of most of them is that the Pope will send him back to his parish without even a reprimand. Dr. McGlynn once made a speech in Cleveland, (>hio, that brought him in collision with his Bishop. He was a student of the Propaganda and he took an oath to upho d the doctrines of the church, which it is now thought by the higher authorities that he is infringeing upon by delivering his speeches in favor of the re cent labor movements which are disturbing the elements of both church and state. Dr. McGlynn has no fear of any serious results from his call to Rome, for it can be easily urg ed that priests have taken part in politics in Europe, most prominent parts in England, France and Italy and in Ireland especially, and that even Popes have been politicians. am all the enjoyment he could (Jut of his position. But thou'll he was not ver.y able, and not at all good, ablt r men and better men have been worse kings. Beyond juestion he would have sacrificed any interest of Britain for the sake of Hanover; bui the issues toen pending among the nations of Europe did not involve any vital questions. During almost the whole of this reign Sir Itobei-t Walpole was the leading min ister and the real ruler of the country. Appre hending that the first need of the nation was peace, after the long, wasting wars in which she had been engaged, he applied himself to the pursuit of a peace policy. In this he had so much success that after putting down a weak at tempt of the Chevalier, which ended in a few weeks and had no other result than costing the lives of a number of good men, there was little farther use for the army. The record of the thirteen years that George I. occupied the throne is not a relation of "military achieve ments. The historian of this period cares little to tell of the dull, heavy king, and of his continual migrations to and from Hanover. Except as affording an insight into the :har- acter of the age, it is of small worth to chron icle how he enriched the British aristocracy by a fat mistress whom he honr red with the title of Countess of Darlington, and a very lean one whom he dubbed Duchess of Kendal. This lean lady, whom the people irreverently called ‘!the May-pole,” knew how to make her posi tion as king's favorite pay, as she received from Lord Bolingbroke the sum of ten thou sand pounds, with promise of more, for pro curing him a permit to return ho ne. While gross, beer drinking George was enjoying him self with these women who were frail but not fair, his wedded wife, Sophia Dorothea was expiating a slight viola tion of h°r marriage vows by years of confinement in a lonely German Castle. With his son and heir, the old King was generally at open war, and his beautiful and accompliehed d lughter-in-law he was wont to speak of as a female Devil. Taken up almost wholly with his mistresses and witli Hanover, he left Wal pole to manage the government as he best might. Though an absolute despot in his electorate, he seemed readily enough to under stand that his British subjects were not slaves whom he could dispose of at his pleasure. He permitted his ugly mistresses and his other German hangers on to take whatever they could get; but it cannot be charged upon him that he attempted any attacks on the Consti tution. While on one of his many visits to his Fatherland, he died, June 10th, 1827, failing by some hours to reach Osnaburg where he wished to breathe his last. It is said that he had promised his lean lady, the Duchess of Kendal, to revisit her after death, if this were permitted, and she for a long while cherished a raven that llew in at her window under the idea that the depart-d monarch had chosen this form in which to reappear. „ The Figure Three. Editor Sunny South ; The figures 9 and 7 have quite a celebrity, but their lesser nu merical brother, the figure 3, is quite as no table. A few instances, from memory, occur to us. There are three ill the Godhead; three were crucified on the cross; Christ rose from the tomb on the third day; I’eter denied Christ three times, when the cock crew thrice. There were three in the garden of Eden when the first sin was committed. The grandest dia logue recorded in history, sacred or profane, occurred between three men, Job and his two comforters. There were three gates on each of the four sides of the city of the holy Jerusalem, as recorded in the Revelation of St. John the Divine. The three greatest virtues are faith, hope and charity. The symb il of the Odd Fellows is three links. There are three grand divisions of the earth on each of the conti nents. The readers of history will not forget the Triumvirate in Rome, Ciesar, I’oinpey and Crassus. All Gaul was divided into three parts. There are three great co-ordinate de partments of the United States Govern ment, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Georgia’s motto is “wisdom, justice and moderation.” Three American statesmen, Clay, Calhoun and Webster, have never been equaled. In bank ing circles there are three “days of grace,” three angles to a triangle, the rule of three, and the three R’s, “reading, ritin and rithme- tic.” The principal metals in commercial use are silver, gold and copper. The sun, in ion and stars are die grandest of the heavenly bod ies, and Georgia’s grand Court of Appeals has three Justices. J. H. N. Milledgeville, Jan. 3, 1887. AUTHORS AT WORK. Peculiarities of Literary Men While Writing, A Glimpse of the 'Work Booms of Noted Novelists. The most conspicious li tarary figure at the capital is George Bancroft, author of the only complete history of the United States. The venerable historian is one of the few methodi cal brain-workers I have ever known. He is a living refutation of Scott’s assertion “that no man of genius was ever an orderly man.” Landing at San Salvador.” “Ponce de Leon standing on the banks of the Mississippi” and He is a believer in the theory that the brain at work is sensibly affected by the external ob jects around and in some degree takes its tone from them. The historian works in a long, narrow room, adorned profusely with fine historical paintings, among them “Columbus “La Salle exploring the father of waters." From his seat be has a full ipew of his art treasures, and frequently gazes at them as if for inspiration, tlis desk is a model of order. Instead of pigeon-holes he has numbered hooks, corresponding with the chapters he is writing. There are cnoughjpens before him to supply an average college class, he uses a paper of peculiar color, cut up in large, almost square sheets. It is not yellow, nor yet green, but a disagreeable combination of both. I was surprised to hear that this peculiar paper is necesary to keep up the flow of the historian’s thoughts and expression. lie has often said that, with ordinary white paper before him, the composition of a single sentence was the work of fifteen or twenty minutes. There is also but one kind of pea that suits him—a large flat one of English make. When composing his history Mr. Bancroft sits al most erect, seeming hardly to bend his neck, as the pen travels over the paper. When the pen begins to hesitate he stops work. He Writes Little at One Time, but that little freely. The preparatory look ing over references is done after breakfast. Next follows a long walk, during which he sifts the evidences, constructs the page or chapter mentally, and has its omtline before his eyes when he begins writing, which is usu al about 4 in the afternoon. The wording is, of course, the easiest part, hence the facility with which the historian’s pen does its work. Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett, the novel ist, on the other hand, is an example of a mind evolving ideas, and fingers obediently penning them without regard to external circumstan ces. She may not be able to perform her in tellectual work under such unfavorable condi tions as Goethe, who during the bombardment of Verdun was so little disturbed by the con flict around him that he could give his mind unreservedly to a scientific consideration of the phenomena of colors; or Geoffrey St. Hilaire, who wrote regularly in the midst of the besieged city of Alexandria; or Archi medes of old absorbed in mathematical prob lems while a hostile soldiery was ransacking hiB house. Her work is usually done in the breakfast room, with her children about her, prattling and playing their innocent pranks, with the oftstomary noisy accompaniments. The children not only do not disturb her, but she even finds a pleasant relief in an occasion al wor l with them or in watching their child ish movements. Unlike Bancroft, she doesn’t adhere to one kind of paper through even one work It is said that nearly every instalment of “Through One Administration,” her last novel in the Century Magazine, was written on sheets of different sizes and texture. A dull pencil is Her Favorite Writing Instrument. I knew Mark Twain when he was a fellow Washington correspondent, many vearj ago, before ‘Innocen's Abroad” brought" liiui fame and fortune. I had opportunities to see his working habits then, and I hear that he has not in iterially changed them since. Mark was then writing letters for a California paper, while at the same time planning several gigan tic works, as is the wont of beginners in the li -Id of letters. His room w,v- a "''rfect chaos, his table a curiosity in its way. On u could be seen anything—from soiled nranuscript to old boots. He never laid his paper on the table when writing, partly because there was no available space and partly because the po sition so necessitated was too much for his lazy bones. With both feet plunged in MSS., chair tilted back and note-hook and pencil in . hand he did all the writing I ever saw him do. it is saiu u._. .-an Mannrqrs cousin, [ the I ni “ 1 An ordinary atnios I some w- i J ind m 1 set in motion the stream J® fef- I where t J " ant a ™ a Jj* ; ^ must first be thoroughly saturt ' '* not that I expect: o lind vilest tobacco smoke, which he puffed from a villainous pipe—said pipe having never re ceived a cleaning—as many newspaper friends of those days can testify. He regarded this pipe .as his salvation frem bores, taking a ghastly delight in pulling away like a locomo tive when an undesirable visitor dropped in, and eagerly watching the paleness which grad ually crept over the face of tlm enemy as the Wax Figures. S. A. M., Uniontown, Ala.: “I want to maks wax figures and know nothing about dealers in wax for that purpose, who and where they are. Can you give me the necessary informa tion? You will greatly oblige. Will some ope give the information? Mrs. V. S. II., Marion, Va. 1. Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson is living in Mobile, Ala., has a loving husband, and s housefull of smart children, we believe. 2. We do not know the author of the poem, “Romeo.” 3. Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey left Beauvoir to Hon. Jeff. Davis. No relation, but admired his patriotism and sympathized in his suffer ings while he was a prisoner and vilely treated. N. II. Ellis, I’ecos City, Texas- “Yon would oblige a reader of the Sunny Sooth by informing him through its columns where a him tory of General Forrest, of the late war, can be obtained? Would a so like to know where a copy of ‘Mohun, or the Days of Lee,’ may be procured? ” Will some book merchant or other person give the informatiou desired? Surry of Eagles Nest.” J. T. Garrett, of Lebanon, Ohio, wishes to know where copies of “Surry of Eagles Nest" and “Mohun” can be had. Will some one give him the information? M. A. D., Cotile, Rapids 1’aish, La., Dee. 12, 1880.—Can you cite me where I may obtain a copy of W. Gillmore Simm’s l’oems? Is be the author of the poem “Alabama; or Here We Rest”? Who published liis worlm? Simms was not a poet. He published some seventeen or more volumes, but no volume of poems, we believe. Ho wrote a tale of Ala bama entitled "Richard Hurdis.” Ilis books have been published by many publishers. Thomas Paine. Marquis, Sweetwater Tex: I have seen the statement th it Thomas l’aine was really the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution ot the United States. That his name was originally to both docu ments but had been erased. Is there any truth in the above statements. Or did Thomas Paine have anything to do with the writing of the I Jeclaration or Constitution ? In the same connection I saw it stated that Napoleon the great, inferring from the facta above stated that Paine was the greatest Statesman of his age employed him when he was planning his schemes for the invasion of Great Britian to frame a government for the English. Is this tr'-:e ? We do not know whence you obtained your information, but it is not only incorrect bat ladicrcus. Lamar’s Speeches. Lisa Norrel, Beaumont, Texas: Where can I get L. Q. C. Lamar’s speeches in book form. And what will they cost? Address a card of inquiry to Hon. L. Q. C. i ainar, at Washington City. 1 ealer, Pulaski, Tenn.: ^jVtteravoun^man __ approach^^ey were te - _ ' MM. pois< nous stuff got in its work. As the novelists of the day receive more at tention fr >m readers than the laborers in any other branch of literature, their working ido- syncrasies are prop irtionately better known W. I). Howells is so fond of writing about himself, however, that he leaves nothing for others to tell. It is not so with Mr. James. Whatever else may be said against the author of a ’ I ortrait of a lady,” it cannot be truth fully asserted that he is conceited. If he takes pride in his works it is a feeling far removed from literary vanity. I have never known a more painstaking author than Mr. James. Not withstanding his great talents aud acquire ments, lie has not an overweening confidence even in his ability to construct a sentence properly. He corrects and revises every page until his manuscript is totally illegible to any one but himself. It has long been a question among brain-workers whether morning, after noon or night is most favorable to production. Some find the refreshing state which follows a light breakfast best adapted to the purpose. Others contend that a well-cooked dinner sharpens the intellect, while the majority think that night, when all the cares of thediy are over and darkness has wrapped the world in silence, is the time when the mind is most inclined for steady work. Mr. James holds the last view and believes, in the words of a late eminent writer, “that there are few really great thoughts, sucli as the world will not will ingly let die, which have not been conceived under the quiet stars.” Ceorge W. Cable is said to be tne most absorbed of literary workers. He really acts his dialogues while writing them—prancing about the room, ad- dressiiu imaginary persons, smiling, frowning, making love to and denouncing the creatures of his imagination. An intimate friend o ; the novelist told u e that the usually quiet Cable would be taken for a howling lunatic by any one who might peep through the win low of his study. The depicter of creole life is anoth er believer in the theory that labor is more powerful than genius. Like Pope, he makes corrections even when his manuscripts are in the hands of the printer. Once lie telegraphed to his publisher to change a certain sentence which lie had found capable of improvement. It may be hero remarked for the benefit of as piring young writers, that this extreme care about the little details of phraseology is a characteristic of all the men whose works do not sink into obscurity a few months after Vr li. A flowing style appears spontaneous to the reader, but only those who have worked in the field of letters themselves know of the erasures, the turning of sentent es and clauses and the many rewritings that ivo ve the de lights of the printed page. Facile work was never good work. As old Ben Johnson said, “Easy writing makes hard reading." In this connection we might take a glance at the peculiarities of a few of the most popu lar writers beyond our shores. Ouida works iressed in the style of the noble ladies who compose exclusively the feminine element of her novels and surrounded by all the luxuries of a princess’ apartment. George Eliot wrote the descriptive portions of her stories while walking about the places she described, mak ing her pen-sketches almost as accurate as photographic views. She was, strange to say, a methodical woman. Her idea about the best time for work was that an empty stomach was most conducive to intellectual activity. Hence she wrote at early morn. Dickens composed most of his books tramping up and down the room and dictating to his secretary. He had a fondness to be surrounded by funny little bronzes. Scott used to plan his stories during the long rides he took over the Scottish moors. He wrote them in the open air, also, when the weather permitted. His study was a sort of rude hermit’s cell amid the splendid apart ments of Abbotsford. Thackeray could write better in a railroad train than in his room. lie said that bustle and noise made him feel that he was in the world in which his characters were moving. Charlotte Bronte never felt in the mood for working unless she was in her own little dark chamber, imbedded in the gloomy hills about her native town. presents which he may have given J a young man request their return a. circumstances with propriety? is there any established rule of etiqua. relation to matters of tl is kind? Till re is no established rule of etiquette V such matters, but coinmin senso suggests two valuable rulec 1st, a young man should never offer presents to a young lady other than such as kinship or ordinary friendship may suggesL And 2nd, a young lady shou d never accept presents from young gentlemen for many rea sons. No impropriety in asking young ladies to return or destroy letters, but when present* hive been offered and accepted it would be mean and little to ask for their return because of a change of feeling towards her. A Southerner, Kingston, E. Tenn.: Gentle man; Can you give me the distance from New Orleans to Rio Janeiro, Brazil, and what is the rate of passage from there? Do you charge anything for inserting a few lines in the Mat rimonial Column of your piper? How is my writing and spelling? Can you give me the address of some reliable Short Hind teacherg one that I could take less ms from by mail? You will confer a favor on one of your friends by publishing this as soon as possible. 1st; As to distanci from New Orleans to Rio Janeiro, it is over 3,000 miles. As New Or leans is in the 3)th degree North latitude and Itio Janeiro is in the 2(!th degree South, I fig ure it out at GO and a half miles to the degree, 2. We charge 10 cents per line in the Mitrirao- nial Column. 3. Your writing and .spelling are both good. 4. Any good book merchant can advise you about the short-hand books and teachers. Cain’s Wife. F. B. II., Oxford, N. C: “In your valued paper of the 7th iust. I read with much inter- est your answer to a question by “E. M.” Sa vannah, concerning Cain’s wife. I would like to hear more on the same subject. How did you get so much information? I read the chapter to whicli you referred and did not find the name “Lilith." Hope you will favor me witli an answer through the Quiz column.” We presume you have read our answer, Sep. 4th, to another question asked by Emma J., Montgomery, Ala. You will there find a fuller account of Lilith. As to our information we can only say, by much reading and re search. Little do some of our correspondents think that they miy ask us a question of two linos, arid it will take us two days of search to answer it, aud if we should charge like law yers for an opinion or au answer, it would not take us more than a few years to retire with a snug fortune. But all we charge is, to sub scribe for the Sunnv South, and then ask us questions. Evangeline: “I see in quotations this sen tence: “It touched, if not her heart, yet that poetic vein which runs through her nature, and reminded her sometimes of the vain pur suit with which Evangeline followed her wan dering lover.” In what book is this written- is it a novel or a character iu some poem and if so, please suite it, the author of the piece “Evaiigeliuo.” You will find the poem in Longfellow’s works. Sir John Moore. r B. W. S., Littleton, N. C: Rev. Chas. Wolfe was the author of the “Burial of Sir John Moore.” Many thought Lord Byron wrote it at the time, but he said he could not lay claim to it, though it was a very flue pro duction. Mr. Wolfe was bom in mi, ^ died in 1823. We find nothing else from his pen. Reader, Lexington, S. C. Will you pi-n-m state m your next issus if you know of any firm or Co. who make paper houses. If please let it appear iu Queries and Answers/’ We do not. If any one else does they will please answer.
