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VOL. I. phospec rus OF THE Rural Cabinet, Published in Warrenton , Georgia, By P. L. Robinson. Are not these woods More free from peril than the envious Court f And this our life, exempt from public haunts, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, aud good in every thing. Shakespeare . The Rural Cabinet, as its title imports, will be devoted more espe cially to the collection and diffusion of such matters and things as may tend to edify and entertain those who • Along the cool sequestered vale of life, “ Pursue the noiseless tenor of their way.’’ Rut even the Cit, who has not be come too mawkish from a surfeit politics or the thousand whim whams a Cit is heir to, if he should find noth ing to “ surprise or astonish,” per chance he may he refreshed with some of the old things which were wont to amuse, delight or solace him in days goue-by. As “ variety is the very spice of life,” the Cabinet will con tain a miscellany calculated to join both profit and delight in one, anil present a condensed view of the ini provements in Agriculture, Com merce and the Arts, together with an epitome of the signs and tidings of the times, religious and political—and though in regard to the latter we pro fess not to be neutrals, “ In all our strictures, plafcid we shall be, “ As Halcyons brooding on a summer 3ea.’’ The orginal department of the Ca binet will be enriched with the con tributions of several literary gentle men who contributed to the late Co lumbian Centinel , and others who have given assurances of ’heir friendly countenance and support. The Rural Cabinet will be pub lished, weekly, on a medium sheet, of good quality, in the folio form, s > as to make a neat volume at the end of each year. The papers of sub scribers in the county will be forward ed by such conveyance as they may direct, or remain in the office until called for. The papers of distant! subscribers will he forwarded, by! mail, without delay, (as there are twelve mails which arrive and depart! from this place every week,) and eve ry attention will be paid to render their transmission speedy and regu lar. Although the Cabinet will be issued on a sheet smaller than the pa pers published in our cities, yet when the crowd of advertisements they contain, together with the low price of the Cabinet , are taken into view, it will be cheaper than any now printed in the state. The annual subscription will be three dollars, which may be dis charged by two dollars and fifty cents if paid on the receipt of the first num ber. No subscription taken for 1 ess than twelve, months II ii --iiipri Select Tales. THE GOAtTiERdT Peter Claus, a goatherd of Sit tenburg, who tended his flock on the Kvffhaus mountain used to drive it every evening to a wild spot, sur rounded by a ruined wall, where he numbered his charge, and left it to rest for the night. For some days he observed that one of his prettiest kids vanished soon after she arrived at this place, and appeared last of all the herd in the morning, He watched her more closely, and saw that she escaped through a cleft in the wall. He foL Rural Cabinet. loWed Her into a Cavern, and t *u*Kl her busily engaged in picking up and eating the oat kernels which fell in continual showers from the roof. He looked upward—the corn rattled a bout his head, but with all his curios ity, the darkness prevented his dis covering any thing more. He lis tened, and at length heard the neigh ing and stamping of a high-bred horse, from whose manger he now guessed Ihe oats fell. The goatherd stood fixed In aston ishment.—Whence could this horse have found its way through the al most trackless mountains that sur rounded him? Presently there ap peared a dwarf, who made signs to him to follow. Peter entered the cave, and passed first into a court sur rounded by high walls, and thence to a valley embosomed in lofty ridges of rock, through which only a scanty twilight made iis way. Here, on the cool plot of turf, were twelve knights ofgrave deportment; who interchang ed not a single word, blit busied themselves in playing at ninepins. Peter was ordered by signs to employ himself in fetching the bowl. At first his heart quaked, and his knees trembled as he stole a sidelong glance at the long beards and slash ed doublets of the venerable knights; By degrees he became bold t, he snacbcd hasty glances aruud him, and at length grew hardy enough to drink from a can that stood near him, whence arose the fragrant perfume of generous wine. New life seemed to inspire his fra ue. a.id as of ten as fatigue appeared inclined to re turn, he drew fresh vigour from the overflowing can. Sleep at last over came him. On awakening, he f>o4 Wmos<'U once more on the wild spot, surround ed bv the ruined wall, where his flock was. He rubbed his eyes, hut nei ther dog nor goat could he discover, and over him hung shrubs and trees which lie had never remarked tilt this day. He shook his head, and pursued his Way over hills and dales where his goats were used to wander during the day, but no where was there any trace of them. Below him lay Sittendorf, and at last he rushed with hasty steps down the hill to en quire after his flo< k. The people who met him on the way to the. village seemed to be all strangers, they were differently clad aud did not speak as his old neigh bours did. They stared at him too when he asked after his gonts, and stroked their chins, At last 7>in voluntarily did the same, and fomid to his astonishment that his beariP was at least a good foot long. He now began to think himself and all the world around him bewitched; and yet he was sure that the mountain he was descending was the. Ryffhaus, and all the cottages with the gardens and grass plots were quite familiar to him. Some children too, in answer to the question of a traveller riding by, called the village Sittendorf. Again he shook his head, and made his way through the village to his own hut. It looked Sorely decayed: and before it lay a strange child in a ragged frock; by the side of a half starved hound, who snarled between his teeth while his old master called him by bis name. He went through the opening which a door had once closed, into the hut, and found all there so desolate and ruinous, that he reeled like a drunken man out at: the back door, called for his wife and J children, but no one heard him, and no voice answered. A crowd of women and children soou collected to look at the strange Warrenton, June 28, 1828. man wliii the lung iron groy Heard, and all beset him with the question, ♦‘Whom did he want?” To hkve to ask others for his own house and wife and children, and perhaps for himself too, seemed s? strange, that to get .rid of their inquiries he named the first person that occurred to him— I “£urt Steffew!” said he. Most held their tongues and stared at hirn, but at last an aged wo mm said, “He has lived for these twelve years beyond Sax onberg; you will not reach him to day,” “Veften Meier, then!”—God bless him!” said an old grandmother | on crutches,*‘he has been bed ridden; and has never left the house these fifteen years.” Claus began now to recognise some of his old neighbors, though they ap peared to have grown aged very sud denly, but his appetite for asking any more questions was gone. And now a young woman* who seemed the inn age of his wife, made her way bustt ling through the gaping crowd, with a child fn her arms. *What is your name?* said he starting. ‘Mary.’ ‘And your father’s’ God bless him, Peter Claus! It is now twenty years ago since we. sought him day and night op the Kyffliaus mountain. His flock came back without him. I was then Seven years old.’ The goatherd could contain him self no longer.—*l am Peter Claus,* said he; ‘arid rio other!’ as he seized the child from his daughter’s arms, and kissed it. All stood petrified with astonishment, till first one voice, and then another cried ‘Yes, it is Pe ter Claus! Welcome neighbour, wel come home, after twenty years ab sence!’ - THE JUVSTK iUUUS BELL . A pRAGMEN't. It w'as a dead < aim: the sun beam ed bright and beautiful upon the o cean, in sitting glory, and all life and animation had given place to that o verpwwering listlessness, which none can form any conception of, but they who have experienced a long contin ued calm at sea. I was leaning against the taffrail, gazing Upon the dark waters below, in that state of apathy, in which thought itself becomes almost too great an exertion, when suddenly a gentle breath of wind that swept a lorig so lightly as to cause no ripple upon the glassy surface of the wave less deep, wafted to my awakened sense a tinkling sound, like the ring ing of a small bell at an immense dis tance. The unusual circumstance aroused my dormant faculties, and I ►listened with breathless attention; but the flaw had passed, arid all was again silent and deathlike. I remained upon the Same spot nearly an hour, but it came not a gain; and at length, overcome with drowsiness, I retired to my birth. The next morning, when I came upon deck, I found that the calm still con tiriued; and the Captain was of opinion that it would last some days. I men tioned to him the incident that had at tracted my attention; but he laughed, and said I had been dreaming. He knew we were too far from land for a> ny sound to reach us, and ho vessel he said could have been near enough for me to hear the ringing of a bell, with out also being in sight. The mate agreed with him, but I observed one weatherbeaten tar, Who standing near, to shake his head doubtfully, and his rugged countenance betrayed great anxiety; but he said nothing. The morning passed away, and still the sea was unruffled by any breeze. After dinner, to while away the te dious hours, the Captain and i sat down upon the quarter deck tomrds* Wxj tmd scaroaiy commenced playing when I was startled by bearing tiie same bell-like tones, so faint and far, that‘nothing lived ’twixt them and silence.* I called to the Captain to listen; he sat a moment without spec k ing; and then started up, exclaiming, ‘I hear it too.’ The sailors seeiov and to have noticed it also, for they were hushed, and listening. The captain went aloft with his glass, and look and In every direction. *1 hear it,’ sad he, ‘distinctly, hut I can see nothing; it cannot be from shore, for we are more than fifty leagues front any land.’ The attention of all on buard was now fully awake. The sailers stood upon the forecastle in anxious groups, all but the old man, the sin gular expression of whose features f had remarked in the morning. Ho sat alone upon the windlass, with his hands folded, and his eyes intently fixed upon the de* k—but atiH Le spoke not. Various conjectures were hazarded among us, but none that satisfactorily accounted for the noise. The afternoon passed, and ihe sun again set, while the tinkling sound’ still came floating over the waves. It was late before sleep dosed my ejea that night. When the morning of the next day dawned, the captain went again to the niaßt-head with his glass, but no sail appeared upon the horizon—sot still the ceaseless bell was pi inly to tie heard, while not a breyth of wind was to be felt. Noon is me, mJ still the calm continued, and tbs sound approached nearer and nearer —when, on a sudden, the captain from thfe top cried out, l seeil now*— hut what it is, heaven only knows; it does not look like any craft that ever the hand of hian'fasliimietf ’ We all rushed to the forecastle, and in silence awaited the approach of ; lhis strange navigator- It came ca reering over the water with a rapid motion, and as it drew near, exhibit ed to onr wondering geze a single blac k mast, rising from the centre of what seemed a square and solid bloc k of wood, hut without yard nr sail, nor did any living creature appear upon it; I proposed to take the boat, and board it—but the sailors shook their heads, and the captain was silent. Determined to discover the meaning of this phenomenon, I jumped into the’ boat, intending to scull toward it, when the old sailor, seeing my res olution, declared he would go with me; and the captain, after a moment’s hesitation, also joined us. We nw ed swiftly onwards to meet the object of our curiosity, which was now within half a mile of the ship, and in a few minutes were sufficiently near to perceive the bell, the ringing of wliich had announced its coming, at the top of the mast. It was green and rusty, as if with age, and the sides of the non-descript bark were covered with barnacles, and tangled masses of seaweed. Immediately be neath the bell, which still swung from side to side with deafening din, was attached a deep sea line, passing over the side and descending into the water. The moment our boat touch ed this strange vessel, the bell ceased to toll; and the floating mass became immovable. We gazed upon it, and each other, in amazement; and at length the captain, in a low and trem ulous voice, proposed to return; but the sailor said, ‘No? it was a evil hour when we met this accursed’—, (his voice sunk, and I could not dis tinguish what he uttered) —<but W 6 have met it, and we must not leave it thus. Let us haul upon this line.* We did so for nearly twenty minutes. No. 5.