The free South. (Beaufort, S.C.) 1863-1864, July 04, 1863, Image 4
VOL. L
: ; LOriginal.]
By the Kiver.
Through the river and through the rift.--,
? Of the sundered eartli I gaze,
While Thought on dreamy pinions drifts
Over cerulean bays.
Into the deep etherial sea,
i)I her own serene eternity.
Transfigured by my tranced eye
Wood and meadow, and stream and sky,
like vistas of a vision lie;
The World is the River that flickers by.
Its skies are the blue arched centuries,
And its forms are the transient images
Flung on the flowing film of Time,
J* the steadfast shores of a fadeless clime.
As yonder wave-side willows grow.
Substance above and shadow below.
The golden slopes of that tipper sphere,
Bang their Imperfect landscapes here.
Past by the Tree of Life which shoots
Duplicate forms from the self-same roots,
Under the fringes of Paradise,
The crystal brim of the River lies.
There are banks of Peace whose lilies purj
Point on the wave their portraiture
And Mary a holy influence,
That climb? to God like the breath of prayer,
p Crerpe quivering into the glass of sense
To bless the immortals mirroned there.
Though realms of Poasy whose white cHfTs
Ootid Its deeeps with their hieroglyphs
Alpine fantasies heaped and wrought
At will by the frolicksome winds of thought
Bv rn- - f- W* Beauty, whose colors pass
Faintly into the misty glass,?
By hills of Truth, whose glories show I
- -
Distorted, broken ana iuuiucu ? n%>
Kissed by the tremulous long green tress
Of the glistening tree of happiness
Which ever ouer aching grasped eludes
With several irlusive similitudes,
AO pictured over ui shade and gleam,
j Pot ever and ever runs the stream.
The ort that burns in rifts of space,
Is the adumbration of God's Face.
Oy soul leans over the murmuring flow,
And I am the image it sees below.
Pleasant Bedfellows.?The diary of 1
. a prisoner of war in Western Dixie contains
the following suggestive incident: j
" Becoming drowsy I borrowed a blanket,
went into the depot, and finding a vacant {
?jplace between two prostrate forms,dropped |
-i down to rest, and was soon in forgetful
ness. I have no knowledge of how long j
slept, but getting cold I partially awoke, j
and hunching my right hand partner re- >
quested him to roll over and ' spoon.'? j
He made no reply, and giving huu a tre- !
cmendous thump, I again besought him to I
'* spoon,' but it was no go. Turning on
f my other side, I shook my other bedfellow
and made the same request. He too
? j>aid no heed to my desire. Exasperated
at what I considered his unaccommodating
spirit, I determined to bring matters
to a crisis. Drawing up my left leg I gave i
kick, bnt he was '
"?? ? lUUOII 1U1 ,
-as immovable as the rock of ages. I was j
aow thoroughly awake. Jumping up I j
" turned down the blanket, first on one and i
then on the other, and by the dim fire- |
y' light beheld on either hand a corpse ! My ;
** ?tt&p was finished. In the morning I learn- j
ed that they were rebel dead brought j
' ^Wown to Murfreesboro for burial at Chattanooga.'^
j
LMoDE Oi^PAJKOArya PraaoKERS.? '>
The Ifercdif correspondent at Frederick, )
>ac<L, mentions an amusing incident in his
letter. On the arrival of the rebels at j
Hagerstown, a lieutenant and five men, |
wearing the federal uniform, crept out of j
the house where they had been hiding, j
and gave themselves up to be paroled.? ;
They told General Jenkins that they did j
not-wish to tight any longer against their !
Southern brethren. The reply of the
General must have greatly astonished the j
cowardly traitors. He indignantly rejected
their claim of brotherhood; told them j
that if he had a twenty-fifth cousin as j
jfwhite livered as they were he would kill }
him and set him up in Ins barnyard to
make slieep own their lambs, and conclu ded
by detailing six " good lusty fellow,
writh thick boots," to 44 parole' the recreant
federals by vigorously kicking them
out of the camp to the west border of the
iown. It is said that the rebel soldiers I
were highly tickled with the scene, and i
loudly expressed their approval of " Jenk- |
ins' mode of paroling cowards." The six j
miserable poltroons who were so energet- [
ically booted must have felt very differ- t
ratly. What an encouraging prospect for i
federal deserters.
"What kinds of tracts do soldiers want i
most? Tracks for home and tracts of
inland.
Why has the French Empress Eugenie
good cause for jealousy? Because it is 1
inown that the Emperor has recently visited
Ni\nce.
Why is the President supposed to have j
a bad eye sight? Because he is always a j
Blinkin (Abe Liiikin).
.
THE FREE SOUTH, SA1
How They go to Bed.
The difference between a man and a
woman in disposition finds no plainer illustration
than that afforded at the moment
when either of them retires to bed.
The young girl trips gaily up to her
chamber, and with the cautious timidity
peculiar to her sex, firs* locks the doors
and arranges the window curtains, so that
bv no possible chance a passer-bv or be
lated nocturnal wanderer from the pavement
can catch a glimpse of her budding
beauty when en rfisJiabeUe. This task completed,
she turns on the gas to its full, and
institutes a general search throughout the
apartment, that she may be sure it does
hot contain a "horrible burglar," or a
"desperate ruffian," in big whiskers and
crispy black hair. Carefully, with delicate
little lingers she lifts the bed valance,
peeps into places where even Tom Thumb
couldn't squeeze his diminutive corporation,
and takes a cursory peep into the
half-emptied trunk, nor forgetting to
glance nervously under the sofa, the space
between which and the floor is not sufficient
to contain the ghost of Calvin Edson,
much less an ordinary robber.
Having ascertained that she is really
alone, she leisurely proceeds to divest her
fair form of "the silk and linen conventionalities
of society." First, she relieves
her glossy hair from its thraldom of pins
and combs, and "does it up" more compactly.
Then off comes the little embroiI
dered collar, and the light vapory cloud of
| lace she calls her under-sleeves, which all
the day have been clasped around her
white plump arms by a couple of Indian
rubber straps. Next, the " love of spring
silk" dress is unfastened in front, partially
revealing?never mind that just now.?
Then sundry waist strings and buttoned
straps are unloosed, and, lo ! what a collapse.
A collapse like that of Lowe's big
balloon, She stands, like Saturn, in the
centre of rings. There they lie upon the
norflv nnrnrnil l\ir linen
nun uii j[;oiwj vv?v.*vvi uj tuc liiiin
underfixens and overfixens, with no more
expression in them than there is in the
bare floor beneath the carpet. Sits she
now upon the edge of the snowy bed, and
begins the unlacing of gaiters, and the disrobing
of those fair swelling limbs, of the
stockings. The pretty little foot is carefully
perched upon the knee, down drops
the gaiter, off comes the elastic garter, and
the thumb inserted at the top of the stocking,
pushes it down?down over the heel,
and?the cotton rests besides the prunella.
So with the other foot, only involving a
slight change of position.
There is a happy smile that peeps out
from behind the blushes of her sweet face
now, as standing before the glass she
places upon her head the night cap, and
with a quick twist of her Angers, ties the
bewitching bow. Then the nightgown is
thrown on, over the frilled chemise, concealing
the heaving bosom and the fair
shoulders in the linen folds. Don't you
envy it, you wretched, miserable old bachelor?you
snarling, growling old curmud
o
geon :
Tlien the counterpane and sheets are
thrown back, the gas is turned down very,
very low, and the little form presses the
yielding couch, and the angel goes off into
world of dreams, in'which the handsome
moustache of her Adolphus and his vows
of eternal love are prominent?the remain:
flop vt tin picture LoLli& filled with ministers,
bridesmaids, new dresses, drives in
Central Park, and plenty of '4 gold galore,''
or 44 love in a cottage."
Now, in the room directly above her, is
the great brute of a brother. He comes
into it, shuts the door with a slam, turns
the key with a snap, growls at a chair
which happens to be in his way, pulls off
his boots and throws them into the corner,
jerks his 44 socks" from his feet, drops his
pantaloons on the floor, and lets them lie
there ; gets off his coat and vest by a quick
vindictive sort of twist of his arms and
body, unpins and unbuttons his collar,
throws it carelessly, with the tie, at, rather
than on the table ; travels to the window
in his shirt extremitv?to let down the
curtain, as if he didn't core a cuss whether
the entire populat ion of the street beheld
his anatomy or not; then puts out the
light and bounces into bed like a great calf
jumping into a pile of hay?curls himself
up, his kn ees nearly touching his noes, lies
so a moment or two, turns on his back,
stretches his limbs out, swears at the tucking
in of the bed clothes, grants, gets over
on the other side, and is?asleep. Then
comes in the snoring and snorting.
Isn't there a difference in style ?
A young copperhead, attending school
in Boston, who interlarded into a National
song which the children were singing,
the words, "Jeff, Davis is our leader,"
was suddenly seized by the collar by Miss
H., the teacher, and taken across her knee
and the incipient treason spanked out of
him. Miss H. is a spirited girl, and deserves
some gallant soldier for a husband. '
I ' '
f
PURDAY, JULY 4, 1863.
Rural Life in Louisiana.
I hear people, reputed to be sensible,
sometimes say that they cannot endure a
residence in the suburban towns by reason
of the too great annoyances, mud in
winter and mosquitoes in summer. Mud
and mosquitoes in Massachusetts! They
have no existence here. What seems mud
is firm earth, and our mosquitoes are not
to be reckoned such any more than Gulliver's
Lilliputians are to be taken as representatives
of the human race. At least,
so I am impressed after a short trip on
the trail of Weitzel's army, into a country
district of Louisiana. Listen to what I
say about it: The St. Charles Hotel at
New Orleans is not, as now kept, a model
lodging or eating house. Nevertheless the
stranger can be made comfortable in it;
and so I left with regret one sultry morning
in March, for an excursion, prompted
by business and promising to be agreeable
from curiosity, to Thibodeaux and vicinity.
I had read in Atlases, Gazetteers and
Guide books that it was a "flourishing
town." From broad hatted planters at
the St. Charles, coming in from that region,
I had heard of the wonderful trade
and activity, in former days of that tract
of country, and of the consequent wealth
and happiness of its people. So I had
expectations of being astonished, and was.
I went up by railroad, and mule stage.?
The railroad speed was nine miles an hour.
It was slow, but interesting. Indeed, it
is kind in directors or whoever"*elsc controls
the speed to give the traveller so
good a chance in his observations as such
driving affords. The first thing that began
to attract the eye was vast plantations
of sugar cane. They stretched along the
road for miles?upon some, the crop of
the past season, ungathered, lay rotting,
upon others uncounted rcomen, men and
boys were at work?some ploughing, some
burning old cane and some hoeing. It
was the first time my northern eyes ever,
saw women earnestly engaged in the hard
labor of the field. It was an unuleasant
sight when the novelty liad passed, and so
I took a seat on the other side of the car.
There weltered and seethed in the hot sun
a measureless expanse of swamp, gorgeous
even in its hideous gloom and repulsiveness,
with an endless variety of beau-,
tiful flowers. Tall trees, cane brakes, fallen
timber, rank grass, water, alligators,
snakes, lizards, turtles?an unending panorama
of every variety of reptile life for i
fifty miles! I never before saw a live alligator.
Barnum's are all made by a Connecticut
shoemaker. But here (hey were
stretching their hideous deformity in the
water by the railroad track over which
our train slowly rattled, apparently undisturbed
though our many cars went within
certainly eight feet of them.
Snakes, genuine "copperheads" and
"mocassins" as malignant and poisonous
as any known to Agassiz, lay in the same
careless and indifferent moods on old
sleepers, and stumps and logs within three
feet of the track.
" Their tamentu vu shocking to me"
A snake is repulsive enough when he
seeks to escape from human associations.
But grown familiar and mingjng with
mankind?what can be added tofthat horror!
Yet they didn't even look ip, as our
train of cars thundered along for miles
and miles, making the quaking mhd whereon
they lay tremble like^ a j^ly. The
woods that surrounded ;yud oveimng mis
nest of uuwloAn iuIjofjeYery variety
of birds of brilliant hue, singing
songs of unsurpassed melody, for the
amusement, I suppose, of these savage
and venomous tenants of the fen What
a waste of melody was here!
In company with quite a party from
Massachusetts, I stopped at the Washington
House, "the best hotel out of NewOrleans,
in Louisiana!" We ate there?
we lodged there, we swore there, those of
us who were so deficient in grace as not
to withstand the provocation. . Three of
us, from Massachusetts, lodged in the best
room. Two beds were in it. The room
was air tight when we entered, boxed up,
obviously, to keep out the dampness and
other unwelcome visitants. Two windows
were there, to be sure, but they were
closed, and had tight shutters or blinds
like a West India goods store in New England.
Suffocating by reason of the heat
and lack of air, one of us unfastened the
shutter and threw open the window.? j
YI^l,?t A** iiol WViof o '
HUUl Uii UUU1 SOIUICU UO. nuut u g^vv
tacle we descried as we peered out into the
darkness! The windows opened on a hog !
yard wherein six or eight lusty swine debated
the jurisdiction with a large dock of
hens and roosters and a few geese! The
exhibition of our light at the window,
and the sound of our voices precipitated
a visit from these quadrupeds and domestic
birds that came near enough to make
a faithful reconnoisance of the manner in
which we were bestowing ourselves for
the night.
Meanwhile, the "shard borne beetle
with his drowsy hums" and the mosqui
no. ser.
i 2 .1 .?/, /vA/1 inoiffl 0?/l m >
Wes IJttiU lis puiwu^cu moiio, auu iu
force. Each bed had stretched over it
that necessity of southern life?a mosquito
bar. But the mosquitoes, aided by
those iron-clads, the beetles, carried theseinadequate
defences by direct assault early
in the night, so that we were entirely powerless
against them. In the streets, from
every quarter of the village, close at hand
and far away, dogs emancipated as the
negros are, by their masters having run
away to the war, howled, quarreled, spit
and barked, in every tone known to canine
life, all through the dismal night I
noticed this circumstance wherever I went
in Louisiana, that large docks of dogs?
without masters and without control, wander
aimlessly in the streets and delds, and!
make night hideous by their quarrelsome- %
ness in excursions for food. The dogs excited
the geese and they set up their characteristic
cackle; and in fact the roosters;
themselves, put in their "shrill and highsounding
note," which was a proceeding,entirely
out of character, as they are not
intended to start out till daylight.
Under these circumstances we lodged!
in the best country hotel in Louisiana T
The unhappy lodger shown in Hood'sOwn,
in' the picture called " country lodgings,"
was happily circumstanced as compared
to us. The other appointments of
this hotel were no better. Onions ancT
grease were the chief elements that entered
into the cooking. The dining roona
looked out from another wing of the caravansary
upon the same hog yard. And'.
this hotel is situated opposite the coTtft" ?
liouse and jail, and formerly dined and*
lodged the judges and advocates. It wasnever
any better than now. The best
people, in these country districts, where
Northern people scarcely ever entered,
lived more, after all, like dogs and animals
than human beings. They grew rich
on negros' toil; they thus became lazy;.
laziness begat dirt; dirt vice, and so they
went on from bad to worse, until, though
rich, they were most despicable people.? .
Their houses, dress, furniture, carriages^
manner of life, conversation, everything
indicates their decay.
If the war had not come to put the finishing
touch of desolation and destruction
upon all existing things here, it would
surely and speedily have resulted in some
other way from their own conduct as they
were enacting it. The war did not come
a moment too soon. Its methods of dealing
with institutions and people here are
none too thorough, Its results will be toJ*
turn this country over for occupation, af
least, if not ownership, to the black race, ^
Whether the black man is needed, or not
at the north, hunkers may, if they choose,
continue to argue. Bit it is at least clear
that God never intended the submerged
acres of Louisiana to be occupied by white men.
The black is their natural occupant.
The end of the war will find these acreslargely
owned by northern men. They
will be cultivated by blacks. The blacks;
will be paid for their toil. .Larger crops,
will be raised than heretofore. The wasteextravagance
of the old systAi will be
done away. These fruitful acres, in spite
of the most wasteful management, yielded
immense profits to the planter and the
factor, as heretofore carried on. But.
northern brains will hereafter order this
thing better. The factor, /it New Orleans^
in times past, running no risks and investing
nothing, grew rich on his commissions
A northern owner will soon stop that leakage.
And compensation, it is alreadjr ^
seen, even under the order of Gen. BafiKS; * '
greatly strengthens the negro's arm, and?,
makes his labor far more productive.
At Thibodeaux no southern men under
fifty years of age can be found. Theyr
have gone to the war. Women and old
men alone are l^eft behind. They are malignant
and uurly togards northern soldiersThey
are openly rebellious. Their foitl*
and devotion are certainly praiseworthy.
They have suffered untold miseries, but 1
they nevertheless remain firmly anchored: 1
in the belief that their cause is just and "Tfw
will triumph. And thus, at every stetf*
one finds the proof that the war will nev<^^^
be ended by an enduring peace, until
entire race of men and women tliat origi? w
nated it, and the cause that impelled themr
are exterminated. A truce and a cessation
of hostilies, and a promise of better* j
fashions in the future, we may, indeed,. j
xrrinfr from their liuncer and nakedness,.
| and that very soon. But a full meal of
victuals in the rebel stomach, a new pair
of shoes on the rebel feet, and a new suit
of clothes all round from northern mann-? j
facturers, and the war would be freshly
opened, and with rent-wed vigor.?C>m- -j
| moMteabh. H. j
Why are the ladies the biggest thieves
in existence? Because they steel their
petticoats, bone the stavs, and crib the
: babies. Yes, and liook tlie eyes, too. l
Why is a fashionable lady like a ship? I
I Because her rigging costs more than the I j
hulk is worth. ?
4.