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Southern Field and Fireside.
y voL. i.
Y ' [For the Southern Field and Fireside.]
4 REMINISCENCES OF CHILDHOOD.
O BY TALLULAH MAY.
' From over the monntain and river and plain,
J I visit the scenes of my childhood ajrain ;
On Fancy’s swift pinions, I'm borne in delight,
W To the side of my dearly loved parents to-night.
\ j My mother, with knitting-work, sits in her chair;
Though pale is her cheek, her brow- is still fair;
4 And I know by that smile and the tear in her eye,
Y That her dear absent children in fancy are nigh.
And there sits my father, a trifle more grey,
JT • As by lamplight he pores o'er the news of the day,
i Or weary, perchance, leans his head on his hand,
And dreams of his youth with its fairy bright land.
I see the old homestead to memory so dear,
Y Aye! there is the ggfdcn I tended with care;
4 How wo romped in its walks, my dear sisters and I!
* All silently now, in the churchyard they lie 1
J How welcome was evening, w hen lessons all done,
Y By the frolicking brook we had frolicksome fun,
/ Or watched in wild glee, as wo fled down the hill,
\ That triumphh of skill, Hal’s mimic saw-mill.
r My brothers are fighting the battle of life ;
Ood keep their hearts pure, ’mid the din and the strife!
J High hearted, right minded, true and brave be they,
% As they were when I knew them in childhood’s young
Q day 1
Yf O blcss'd be the visions that flit o’er us here 1
J As angels, the lonely, they visit and cheer 1
'v Kind messengers sent ’mid life's sorrow and pain,
» Blest scenes of the past 1 I invoke them again 1
Lumpkin, Ga., August 8,1969.
[For the Southern Field and Fireside.]
j Entered according to the Act of Congress, die., <tc.
4 ly the Author.
[ MASTER WILLIAM MITTEN;
f 08,
Ka youth of brilliant talents,
WHO WAS RUINED BY BAD LUCK.
O " BY TUB AUTHOR OF THE GEORGIA SCENES, ETC.
JT “And I am equally sure that William has
' reaped too many benefits from obedience to you,
JX ever to disobey you again in any thing. Now
y this plan has occurred to me: September, though
v> a Fall mouth, is always a warm, relaxing, sickly
f month in this climate; and a3 ho has been much
4 on horse-back during the vacation, it may injure
o' his health to break off suddenly from this fine
J exercise, and set himself down to severe study.
JT I know he has made rather a bad use of his
' horse during the vacation, but he can’t do so at
JX school. You have enumerated the evils you ap
* prehend from his keeping a horse there, and that
V, will be sufficient to guard him against them; for
he has told me over and over again, that he be
-4 lieved he had the best Uncle in the world; that
•o' you had only to tell him what to do, and he
J would do it, if it were to go to the earth'3 end.
j V Now give him any other orders or cautions about
/ the horse that you think proper ; let him keep
HX him only while the weather continues warm,
y and as soon as it turns cool, I will send Tom for
\j him and fetch him home, if you say so. The
short vacation at Christmas will soon be here,
4 and if he keeps him till then, he can ride him
o' home, and save us the trouble of sending for
J him. But no matter for that, if you say send
Y for him before, it shall be done. As for the ex
/ penses of keeping the horse, it will cost no more
jX to keep him there than here, nor not as much,
and there, he will be of some use, and here, he
will be of none. But the great benefit I promise
myself from it, is William’s delightful improving
4 trips with Mr. Waddel to his preaching places.”
o' “ William,” said the Captain, “retire a little,
J while your mother and I discuss this matter a
V little farther."
/ William retirod.
Y “Do you know, Anna," continued the Cap
® tain, “ that nothing has fallen from William in
vj three months, which has pained me, not to say
offended me, so much, as that Rocky River plea
4 for keeping a horse ? Here he has been in the
midst of preaching, and various religious exer
-1 cises for three or four weeks, and except on the
Y Sabbath, he has hardly ever darkened a Church
J door in the day time, and never at night, unless
\ you pressed him into your service; and now all
f of a sudden, he has taken a wonderful yearning
j to accompany Mr. Waddel upon his preaching ex
cursions.”
4 “ Brother, I think the day has gone by when
' William would deceive; and I am very happy
J in having it in my power to explain this thing
Y to your satisfaction. I talked to William about
/ his taking so little interest in the meetings, and
Y he said that he wanted recreation alter Ins hard
study for the long term —that he would soon
have to renew his studies for ten long months
V with only two weeks vacation at Christmas, and
4 that if he did not improve his health in the va
® cation be would breakdown—that he had been
J to preaching in the country several times when
V there was preaching in town, because he could
J take exercise in going there. Now at school,
a the state of things will be just reversed. He
<h will be kept constantly employed, except on Sat-
I JANIES GARDNER, I
t Proprietor. (
AUGUSTA. GA., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1859.
urdays and Sundays, and he would be- desirous
of exercising on those days and doing good at
the same time."
The Captain looked doubtmgly, and said no
more upon that head; but he returned from the
episode:
“Anna,” said he, “ I am very anxious to ac
commodate you aud William, but I have awful
misgivings about this horse affair. There is
much weight in what you have said; but it does
not satisfy me. What a world of trouble one
false step may give a man I What eternal vigi
lance must a man keep up both upon himself
and his charge, who has the government of ljoys!
Now if I refuse to comply with your wishes, and
by any chance in the world William should hap
pen to get sick, you will ascribe it to my need
less rigor, and carelessness about his health.—
I erred in giving him tho horse, and I am not
absolutely certain that after having given him,
I ought to control his use of him, simply upon
my apprehensions that it be mischievous.—
Perhaps no evil will grow.-Oqt of it for one short
month, or a month and .a half at farthest, for
surely we shall have frost in that time, and by
giving William proper precautions, it may be
that all will turn out well at last You and
William will be accommodated, my doubts will
be removed, (if they can be called doubts) about
interfering with his right of property in the pres
ent state of things, and possibly his health may
be imprQvod, or at least preserved by it. Call
him bifck and let me give him my charge."
William wine.
“I have concluded, seta, to let you keep your
horse at Mr. Waddel’s, upon these conditions:
You are to ride him no where but to the school
house and back to your boarding house, except
on Saturdays. On those days, you are to ride
him to no grog shops, gatherings or frolics, nor
more than six miles from Willington, any where
except to Vienna, and there, only to mail your
own letters—don’t forget this condition. You
are never to go to Vienna unless you go to mail a
letter of your own, addressed to your mother or my
self. All your letters toothers, you must carry
to the office when you go to mail your letters to
one of us. You are not to go simply to enquire
for letters—enquire for them when you go to
mail your own. When you go under these res
trictions, you may of course carry letters and
bring letters for your school-mates —you are not
to ride your horse at all on the Sabbath, except
to accompany Mr. Waddel to some preaching
appointment—you are to loan him to no student
—l’ll give you a paper to show them, that will
excuse you to them for not loaning your horse
to them. When your mother sends for your
horse, you are to give him up without a murmur,
and if you keep him till Christmas, you are to
bring him home and leave him here.”
William subscribed to the terms cheerfully,
and showed by his countenance that he suffered
no distress for his Uncle’s over-refinement in
trade. On the second of September he and Tom
took the road to Willington—Tom with saddle
bags which bent upwards with stuffing. On
reaching Willington, William selected for his
boarding house, one of the remotest from the
school house that he could find, with any stu
dents in it. It contained two pretty wild fel
lows. A single day here convinced him that he
had made a great change for the better, in board
ing houses. The eating was better, the sleep
ing was better, than at Newby’s, and there he
understood he would have to cut his own wood
and make his own fires. “ Why didn’t I come
here at first?” thought he. “ Smith,” said he,
“ does Mr. Waddel ever come round here of
nights?” “No,” said Smith, “ it’s too far off for
him to come boguing about to of nights; and if
he was to come one time, ho wouldn’t come
again, for I’d make him smell the face of a brick
bat.”
As there were no brick-bats about Willington,
we infer from this remark, that Smith was a
city gentleman.
“And you’ve no Monitor here?” enquired
William.
“No;" said Jones, “Old Moses is got more
sense than to make Smith monitor over me, or
me over him. ne knows we’d never spunk one
another."
William was in transports with his new loca
tion. His appearance at school on horseback,
created quite a sensation among the students;
divers of whom got spunked “ for looking at
William Mitten’s horse in study-hours” —in short
for being idle, but in detail as just stated. As
Doctor Waddel was about mounting old Hector,
at 12 o’clock on the second day after William’s
return, he saw William riding Snap-dragon to
water, and he joined him.
“ William, J ’ said the Doctor, “ have your quit
boarding at Mr. Newby’s?"
“ Yes sir."
“ I’m sorry to hear that. Did Mr. or Mrs.
Newby say or do anything to offend yon ?”
“No sir, but Uucle allows me to board
where I please, and I preferred boarding at
Mr. ’s.”
“ Is that your horse ?”
“ Yes sir."
The Doctor cleared his throat sadly and pro
phetically, and proceeded:
“ That horse, William, is going to bring you in
to trouble, and I advise you to write to your
mother immediately to Send for him and take
him away; and I adviselyou to get back to Mr.
Newby’s as soon as possible.’’
“ I don't expect to keeb him long, Mr. Wad
del—only till the weather turns cool.”
“ That may be quite too long. William, I have
been keeping school many years, and I declare
to you, my son, that no student under me has
ever done anything to fill me with such fears,
anxieties and griefs as ycu have, in these seem
ingly small matters of changing your boarding
bouse, and keeping a horse here. What day of
the month is thi3? The fifth, isn’t it?”
“ Yes sir.”
“Is your name upon either of these beech-trees,
William ?”
“ Yes sir.” •
“ Come show me which.”
“There it is,” said William as they approaeh
a beach.
“Very prettily carved. Do you keep a pock
et-book, William ?”
"Yes sir.”
“Write down in your pocket-book the year
and the day of the month, in which you and I
took our first and last look together at your
name on that beach.”
“ Why’’ Mr. Waddel, I haven’t done anything
'wrong, have I ?”
’“Nothing morally wrong, ray son, nothing
morally wroug. I have a deep interest in you,
William, and so has your country. Hundreds
will regret to bo disappointed in you. Lay to
heart the advice lam about to jite, an d follow
it, as yon respect me, a* you lom'your Uncle, as
you love yourself, as you love yonr mother, as
you love your country. Till you send home that
horse, be more studious than you have ever
been, more strict in observing the rules of the
school, more watchfhl of what you say and do,
more careful of where you go than you have
ever been. And as soon as you dispose of the
horse, come back to Mr. Newby’s—Mr. ’s
is too far for you to walk.”
“ I’ve paid my board for a quarter.”
“No matter for that. Get back to Newby's
as soon as you can, and I'll arrange the matter
of board with Mr. .”
“ Mr. Waddel, X. Jones and Z. Smith board
at Mr. ’s.”
“ I know they do, but—they keep no horse.
Good day! Remember the fifth of September
and the beach tree!”
William did not move from the spot where
Doctor Waddel left him, for five minutes. He
was alarmed, he could not tell why. “What,”
thought he, “ can there be in keeping a horse,
that is so horrible to Uncle and Mr. Waddel!—
It’s the strangest thing to me in the world I”
CHAPTER XIX.
Master Mitten forms acquaintances at his new
hoarding house who get him into trouble. —He
reciprocates the compliment by getting them into
trouble. —Leaves school in deep distress.
It was a common remark of Doctor Waddel,
“ show me a boy with a horse, dog, and gun, and
I’ll show you a boy who will never come to any
thing.” We can look back through the vista of
fifty years, and we cannot point to the man, liv
ing or dead, whose history disproves the remark.
We can point to many in verification of it. But
Master Mitten had as yet only a horse, and at
worst, according to Waddel, he was only one
third of the way to nothing. Why, then, was
the Doctor so much afflicted by his horse ? And
why did it distress him so much more to find
William boarding at Mr. 's, than Smith
and Jones?”
He saw at once that William had changed
his lodging only for the pleasure of riding his
horso every day. That his horse would necessa
rily employ much of his time, that might be much
better disposed of, and be constantly engaging
him in pleasure rides, or vice-rides when he
ought to be at his books. He felt almost certaiu
that ere long that horse would bring him on the
monitor’s bill, and he disliked exceedingly to
give a promising boy his first whipping; because
he knew that half the stimulus to close study
and good order would be taken from him by his
first whipping. But the great source of the Doc
tor's uneasiness was his room-mates. Jones and
Smith were among the few students of the Doc
tor's school, who disliked him, and they cordial
ly despised him. And yet, strange as it may
seem, he had never flogged either of them, he
had never said a cross word to either of them.
They feared whipping, and demeaned them
selves well enough when at school, to keep off the
monitor's bills, and recited well enough to drag
along with their classes. “ Why, then, did they
despise him ?”
The reader must ask the Devil to explain that
matter. We acknowledge our utter incompe
tency to do it—Yes, we can go a little way into
the expiation of it, and as it is one of the para
doxies of human nature, the philosophic reader
is entitled to all the light that we can shed upon
it. If it were possible, we should say that
Smith came into the world hating Doctor Wad
del ; for he seemed to bring his hatred with him
to the school. At their very first interview, he
showed palpable signs of it, already up to a red
heat. Now if it be possible for a rational being
to hate furiously at sight, then Smith’s hatred
commenced with this interview. But if this be
i morally impossible, at what period of his life
can we better place it, than at his birth ?
As to Jones, his hatred, though curious, and
smoked a little with the unnatural, is nevertho
traceable. From his introduction to the Doctor,
to the day of his becoming Smith’s room-mate,
ho seemed rather to like the Doctor: but on the
evening of that day, most wonderful transi
tion of feeling took place in him, that perhaps
ever ocqured in the history of mind. As the two
took their seats, at their study-table, Jones ob
served, “ Old Moses is a pretty tight old fellow,
but I can’t help liking him.” “He's a d nd
old tyrant!" said Smith. Whereupon Jones'
countenance made pi*>clamation of the workings
ofhismindin this unmistakable language:—
“ Why,— La me 1 I never thought of that! But
it’s so! I see it plain enough now! What an
escape I have made! A little more, and" I might
have been precipitated into the bottomless abyss
of love!” Jones covered his ignorance and weak
ness in the usual way, by pretending he was in
fun, nnd to prove it, fell to cursing the Doctor
luxuriously. The most oftheir recreation hours
of evenings, were spent in brotherly contests
for supremacy in hating and abusing their ex
cellent preceptor. Let no man say that such
cases never occurred. They are to be found in
every school of a hundred boys in the land—
not exactly, to be sure, in the features which we
have given to them, but exactly in substance.—
Ye protestors against the doctrine of native
depravity, explain this matter, if you please.
Doctor Waddel knew well the feelings of
these youths towards him, and their worthless
ness of character; and he was pleased that they
had selected a residence which cut them off al
most entirely from communication with the other
students, save when they were under his eye.
No wonder that he had most gloomy forebodings
when he saw a youth of William’s tender age,
and bright promise, placed in daily and nightly
intercourse with them. ,
Young teachers may caution a good, amiable,
highly gifted boy, against associating with a low,
vulgar, abandoned youth of his school, but an
old one never does; for the plain reason that
ninety-nine in the hundred good boys, instead of
thanking the teacher for his kindness, holding
his counsels in confidence, and improving them,
will go right off to the profligate and tell him all
that his teacher has said about him, render him
ten times worse than he was before, infuriate
his parents, and spread the spirit of rebellion
through the whole school. Well for the kind
man if he does not get his head cracked by the
father, his character cracked by the mother,
and his chair cracked by his patrons or trustees.
All this, kind reader, in answer to your question,
“ Why did not Dr. Waddel tell the boy frankly,
that Smith and Jones were unfit associates for
him, and that they would ruin him, if he did not
leave them immediately?” Doctor Waddel well
knew “ that there were things,” not only “in
heaven and earth,” but in schools, “ which never
were dreamed of” in the world’s “philosophy.”
We must not, however, take leave of Smith and
Jones without doing them the justice to say,
that there were two amiablo, excellent intelli
gent men, and as many women of like character,
whose opinion of them differed toto coelo from
ours: these were their fathers and mothers.
On the evening of the fifth, William Mitten
reported to Smith and Jones all that bad passed
between the Doctor and himself; wondering how
the Doctor could be so much concerned about
his horse and his boarding at Newby’s.
“I understand it,” said Smith, with expletives,
Shich we omit, “ lie and Newby are in cahoot.
e knows you’re good pay; and another thing—
ho wants you there near him, where he can be
poking his grey eyes and club nose through the
crack of your house, of nights, without much
trouble. If I stayed there and he was to come
peeping into my house, I’d take a sharp stick
and punch out his old peepers. I was always
taught to despise eaves-droppers, and so I do.”
“Oh yes,” said William, “ I see into it. He
thinks if he can get my horse away from me,
rather than walk so far to school, I’ll go back to
Newby’s; but he misses it just as much as if
he had burnt his shirt. I ain’t going to quit the
good eating here, and the good sleeping and easy
living and go back there, to eating and sleeping
and working like a nigger, if my horse was
gone.”
“ Bill,” said Jones, “ did you ever play cards ?”
“ Oh yes,” said Bill, “ many a time.”
“I wish we had a pack,” said Smith. “We
burnt up ours, at the end of the term; but if
you’ll lend me your horse Saturday, I’ll go to
Petersburg and get a pack.”
“ Read that paper,” said William.
Smith read it
“ Well, Jiow will your Uncle know that you
lent him?” pursued Smith.
“But I promised my Uncle solemnly to obey
his orders about the horse, and I hate to violate
my word. It would distress my mother to death,
if I was to do so, and she find it out.’'
“ Well, are you going to use him Saturday?”
said Jones. “If you ain’t. I'll tell you how we
can fix it elegantly; you just leave him in the
stable, and I’ll take him, without your lending
him.”
" I thought I’d go, next Saturday and Sunday,
j Two Dollars Per Ann am, I
I Always In Advance. )
with Mr. Waddel, if ho goes, to Rocky River
Church ; I must go oue time ”
Hero William’s words were drowned, by most
obstreporous laughter from his companions.
[to be continued.]
—■»-
AN EXPLANATION OF BEITIBH TITLED.
We have heard the question asked, why is it
that Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, and
other titled persons in Great Britain, are found
sitting in the House of Commons, instead of the
House of Lords. The question is a simple one,
but would fail to elicit a correct answer oftener,
perhaps, than might be supposed.
The British House of Lords comprises all the
members of the five orders of nobility in Eng
land; that is, all the dukes, marquises, earls,
viscounts and barons, who hgve English titles.—
It does not, however, comprise all the Scotch or
Irish nobility. The Scotch nobility send sixteen
representative peers, chosen by themselves; the
Irish send twenty-eight. The Scotch represen
tative peers are elected for each parliament; the
Irish for life.
Viscount Palmerston is not an English, but
an Irish peer, nor is he representative of the
Irish nobility; therefore he has no seat in the
House of Lords. His Irish title, however, does
not deprive him of the privilges of a British
commoner; and any commoner may represent
any constituency, without regard to residence.
Lord Palmerston, accordingly, although really
belonging to the nobility, sits in the House of
1 Commons, as & commoner, representing the
borough of Tiverton, which electa him to each
Parliament
It is to be observed, however, that many of
the Scotch and Irish nobility have also English
peerages, by virtue of which, they sk as mem
bers of the House of Lords, in their own right,
although always known by their Scotch or Irish
title, when it is of higher grade than the Eng
lish. Thus the Earl of Aberdeen, is not a re
presentative peer, but sits in the House of Lords
by right of his English rank, as Visoount Gor
don. The Duke of Athol sits as Earl of Strange,
and the Duke of Argyle, as Baron Sundridge
and Hamilton. The Irish Marquis of London
derry, is also the English Earl Vane; the Earl of
Donoughjpore, is Viscount Hutchinson; the
Marquis of Ely, is Baron Loftus, Ac., Ac.
As to Lord John Russell, Lord John Manners,
Ac., they are not peers at all, but bear the title
“ Lord” only by courtesy, as the sons of noble
men. This title is given to all the sons of dukes
and marquises and to the eldest sons of earls.—
Lord John Russell is a younger son of the late
and brother of the present Duke of Bedford.—
The expression “ Lord Russell,” which we see
sometimes applied to him, for brevity’s sake, is
incorrect; although the eldest son of a nobleman
may bear the honorary title, without the addi
tion of the Christian name, as Lord Stanley,
eldest son of the Earl of Derby. The terms
“Lord ” and “your Lordship " are also applied
indiscriminately to all the orders of nobility, ex
cept the dukes.
The correct application of “ Honorable ” and
“ Right Honorable” is also rigidly defined by the
laws of rank and courtesy. Earls, viscounts
and barons, the sons of dukes and marquises, and
the eldest sons of earls, are all “ right honorable;”
tlip younger sons of earls and all the sons of
viscounts and barons are simply “honorable.”
These terms are also applied to the occupants of
certain offices of distinction, but members of the
House of Commons are not, like our members of
Congress, addressed, as “Honorable,” unless
entitled to it on some other ground. Dukes are
“ his Grace” or “ your Grace," and marquises
are “ Most Noble."
A knowledge of these trifles clears up a great
deal of confusion with regard to English politics
and literature.
The Progress op toe Press. —Within less
than one hundred years ago, the establishment
of a third printing press in the United States
was regarded by many of Dr. Franklin’s friends
as a hazardous enterprise. Since then, such has
been the multiplication of newspapers in this
country, that seven hundred and fifty mills are
now employed to furnish printing paper; these
mills are operated by 2,000 engines. The an
nual product of these mills reaches the enor
mous quantity of 270,000,000 pounds of paper,
from which was realized the pretty little sum of
$27,000,000. A pound of paper requires a
pound and a quarter of rags. 340,000,000
pounds of old rags were therefore consumed
last year.in the manufacture of paper.
1 111
Infidelity. —Sir Isaac Newton set out in life
a clamorous infidel; but on a close examination
of the evideuces of Christianity, he found reason
to change his opinions. When the celebrated
Dr. Edmund Halley was talking infidelity before
him, Sir Isaac addressed him in these or like
words:
“ Dr. Halley, I am always glad to hear you
when you speak of astronomy or other parts of
the mathematics, because that is a subject you •
have studied and well understand; but you
should not talk of Christianity, for you have not
studied it. I have, and am certain you know
nothing of the matter.”
NO. 18