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of the hunted Notoriety doubling on his gerous on a full stomach, no less so is pursuers. But it is time that I should be-writing on a full reputation. Beset as he think me of St. Austin's prayer, libera me a meipso, if I would arrive at the matter in

hand.

has been on all sides, he could not refrain, and would only imprecate patience till he shall again have "got the hang" (as he Moreover, I had yet another reason for calls it) of an accomplishment long disused. taking up the pen myself. I am informed The letter of Mr. Sawin was received some that the Atlantic Monthly is mainly in-time in last June, and others have followed debted for its success to the contributions which will in due season be submitted to and editorial supervision of Dr. Holmes, the publick. How largely his statements whose excellent "Annals of America" oc- are to be depended on, I more than merely cupy an honored place upon my shelves. dubitate. He was always distinguished for The journal itself I have never seen; but if a tendency to exaggeration, it might althis be so, it might seem that the recommen- most be qualified by a stronger term. Fordation of a brother-clergyman (though par titer mentire, aliquid hæret, seemed to be magis quam similis) should carry a greater his favourite rule of rhetorick. That he weight. I suppose that you have a de- is actually where he says he is the postpartment for historical lucubrations, and mark would seem to confirm; that he was should be glad, if deemed desirable, to for- received with the publick demonstrations ward for publication my "Collections for he describes would appear consonant with the Antiquities of Jaalam," and my (now what we know of the habits of those rehappily complete) pedigree of the Wilbur gions; but further than this I venture not family from its fons et origo, the Wild Boar to decide. I have sometimes suspected a of Ardennes. Withdrawn from the active vein of humor in him which leads him to duties of my profession by the settlement speak by contraries; but since, in the unof a colleague-pastor, the Reverend Jedu- restrained intercourse of private life, I have thun Hitchcock, formerly of Brutus Four- never observed in him any striking powers Corners, I might find time for further con- of invention, I am the more willing to put tributions to general literature on similar a certain qualified faith in the incidents and topicks. I have made large advances to- the details of life and manners which give wards a completer genealogy of Mrs. Wil- to his narratives some portion of the interbur's family, the Pilcoxes, not, if I know my-est and entertainment which characterizes self, from any idle vanity, but with the sole a Century Sermon. desire of rendering myself useful in my day and generation. Nulla dies sine lined. I inclose a meteorological register, a list of the births, deaths, and marriages, and a few memorabilia of longevity in Jaalam East Parish for the last half-century. Though spared to the unusual period of more than eighty years, I find no diminution of my faculties or abatement of my natural vigor, except a scarcely sensible decay of memory and a necessity of recurring to younger eyesight or spectacles for the finer print in Cruden. It would gratify me to make some further provision for declining years from the emoluments of my literary labors. I had intended to effect an insurance on my life, but was deterred therefrom by a circular from one of the offices, in which the sudden death of so large a proportion of the insured was set forth as an inducement, that it seemed to me little less than a tempting of Providence. Neque in summa inopia levis esse senectus potest, ne sapienti quidem.

Thus far concerning Mr. Biglow; and so much seemed needful (brevis esse laboro) by way of preliminary, after a silence of fourteen years. He greatly fears lest he may in this essay have fallen below himself, well knowing that, if exercise be dan

It may be expected of me that I should say something to justify myself with the world for a seeming inconsistency with my well-known principles in allowing my youngest son to raise a company for the war, a fact known to all through the medium of the publick prints. I did reason with the young man, but expellas naturam furcâ, tamen usque recurrit. Having myself been a chaplain in 1812, I could the less wonder that a man of war had sprung from my loins. It was, indeed, grievous to send my Benjamin, the child of my old age; but after the discomfiture of Manassas, I with my own hands did buckle on his armour, trusting in the great Comforter and Commander for strength according to my need. For truly the memory of a brave son dead in his shroud were a greater staff of my declining years than a living coward (if those may be said to have lived who carry all of themselves into the grave with them), though his days might be long in the land, and he should get much goods. It is not till our earthen vessels are broken that we find and truly possess the treasure that was laid up in them. Migravi in animam meam, I have sought refuge in my own soul; nor would I be shamed by the

heathen comedian with his Nequam illud | An'
verbum, bene vult, nisi bene facit. During
our dark days, I read constantly in the in-
spired book of Job, which I believe to con-
tain more food to maintain the fibre of the
soul for right living and high thinking
than all pagan literature together, though
I would by no means vilipend the study of

the classicks. There I read that Job said
in his despair, even as the fool saith in his
heart there is no God, -The tabernacles
of robbers prosper, and they that provoke
God are secure. (Job xii. 6.) But I
sought farther till I found this Scripture
also, which I would have those perpend
who have striven to turn our Israel aside
to the worship of strange gods: — " If I
did despise the cause of my man-servant
or of my maid-servant when they contended
with me, what then shall I do when God
riseth up? and when he visiteth, what
shall I answer him?" (Job xxxi. 13, 14.)
On this text I preached a discourse on the
last day of Fasting and Humiliation with
general acceptance, though there were not
wanting one or two Laodiceans who said
that I should have waited till the President
announced his policy. But let us hope
and pray, remembering this of Saint Greg-
ory, Vult Deus rogari, vult cogi, vult qua-
dam importunitate vinci.

We had our first fall of snow on Friday last. Frosts have been unusually backward this fall. A singular circumstance occurred in this town on the 20th October, in the family of Deacon Pelatiah Tinkham. On the previous evening, a few moments before family prayers,

[The editors of the Atlantic find it necessary here to cut short the letter of their valued correspondent, which seemed calculated rather on the rates of longevity in Jaalam than for less favored localities. They have every encouragement to hope that he will write again.]

With esteem and respect,
Your obedient servant,
HOMER WILBUR, A. M.

It's some consid'ble of a spell sence I
hain't writ no letters,

An' ther''s gret changes hez took place
in all polit'cle metters;
Some canderdates air dead an' gone, an'
some hez ben defeated,
Which 'mounts to pooty much the same;
fer it's ben proved repeated
A betch o' bread thet hain't riz once
ain't goin' to rise agin,

it's jest money throwed away to
put the emptins in:

But thet 's wut folks wun't never larn;
they dunno how to go,
Arter you want their room, no more 'n
a bullet-headed beau;

Ther' 's ollers chaps a-hangin' roun' thet
can't see peatime 's past,

Mis'ble as roosters in a rain, heads
down an' tails half-mast:
ain't disgraceful bein' beat, when a
holl nation doos it,

It

But

Chance is like an amberill, — it don't take twice to lose it.

I spose you're kin' o' cur'ous, now, to know why I hain't writ.

Wal,

Th'

An'

I've ben where a litt'ry taste don't somehow seem to git encouragement a feller 'd think, thet's used to public schools, where sech things ez paper 'n' ink air clean agin the rules:

A kind o' vicyvarsy house, built dreffle strong an' stout,

So 's 't honest people can't get in, ner
t' other sort git out,

An' with the winders so contrived,
Better alookin' in than out, though it
you'd prob'ly like the view
seems sing'lar, tu;

But then the landlord sets by ye, can't
bear ye out o' sight,

And locks ye up ez reg'lar ez an outside door at night.

This world is awfle contrary: the rope
may stretch your neck

Thet mebby kep' another chap frum
washin' off a wreck;
An' you may see the taters grow in one
poor feller's patch,

So small no self-respectin' hen thet val-
lied time 'ould scratch,
So small the rot can't find 'em out, an'
then agin, nex' door,
Ez big ez wut hogs dream on when
they're 'most too fat to snore.
But groutin' ain't no kin' o' use; an' ef
the fust throw fails,

Why, up an' try agin, thet's all, the
coppers ain't all tails;

Though I hev seen 'em when I thought

they hed n't no more head Than 'd sarve a nussin' Brigadier thet gits some ink to shed.

When I writ last, I'd ben turned loose |“I'm doubledashed ef you ain't him

by thet blamed nigger, Pomp, Ferlorner than a musquash, ef you'd took an' dreened his swamp: But I ain't o' the meechin' kind, thet sets an' thinks fer weeks The bottom's out o' th' univarse coz their own gillpot leaks.

I hed to cross bayous an' criks, (wal, it did beat all natur',)

Upon a kin' o' corderoy, fust log, then alligator;

Luck'ly, the critters warn't sharp-sot; I guess 't wuz overruled They'd done their mornin's marketin' an' gut their hunger cooled; Fer missionaries to the Creeks an' runaways are viewed

By them an' folks ez sent express to be their reg'lar food; Wutever 't wuz, they laid an' snoozed ez peacefully ez sinners, Meek ez disgestin' deacons be at ordination dinners;

Ef any on 'em turned an' snapped, I

let 'em kin' o' taste

My live-oak leg, an' so, ye see, ther' warn't no gret o' waste; Fer they found out in quicker time than ef they 'd ben to college "Twarn't heartier food than though't wuz

made out o' the tree o' knowledge. But I tell you my other leg hed larned wut pizon-nettle meant,

An' var'ous other usefle things, afore I reached a settlement,

An' all o' me thet wuz n't sore an'
sendin' prickles thru me
Wuz jest the leg I parted with in lickin'
Montezumy:

A useful limb it's ben to me, an' more of a support

Than wut the other hez ben, dror my pension for 't.

coz I

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thet stole my yaller chettle, (You're all the stranger thet 's around,) so now you 've gut to settle; ain't no use to argerfy ner try to cut up frisky,

It

I know ye ez I know the smell of ole chain-lightnin' whiskey;

We 're lor-abidin' folks down here, we'll fix ye so 's 't a bar

Would n' tech ye with a ten-foot pole; (Jedge, you jest warm the tar;) You'll think you'd better ha' gut among a tribe o' Mongrel Tartars, 'fore we 've done showin' how we raise our Southun prize tar-martyrs; A moultin' fallen cherubim, ef he should see ye, 'd snicker,

Thinkin' he warn't a suckemstance. Come, genlemun, le' 's liquor; An', Gin'ral, when you 've mixed the drinks an' chalked 'em up, tote roun'

An' see ef ther''s a feather-bed (thet 's borryable) in town

We'll try ye fair, ole Grafted-Leg, an' ef the tar wun't stick,

Th' ain't not a juror here but wut 'll 'quit ye double-quick."

To cut it short, I wun't say sweet, they gi' me a good dip,

(They ain't perfessin' Bahptists here,) then give the bed a rip,The jury 'd sot, an' quicker 'n a flash they hetched me out, a livin' Extemp'ry mammoth turkey-chick fer a Fejee Thanksgivin'.

Thet I felt some stuck up is wut it 's nat'ral to suppose,

When poppylar enthusiasm hed funnished me sech clo'es;

(Ner 't ain't without edvantiges, this kin' o' suit, ye see,

It's water-proof, an' water 's wut I like kep' out o' me ;)

But nut content with thet, they took a kerridge from the fence

An' rid me roun' to see the place, entirely free 'f expense,

With forty-'leven new kines o' sarse without no charge acquainted me, Gi' me three cheers, an' vowed thet I wuz all their fahncy painted me; They treated me to all their eggs; (they keep 'em I should think, Fer sech ovations, pooty long, for they wuz mos' distinc';)

seein' I wuz innercent,

They starred me thick 'z the Milky-Way | Two year ago they ketched the thief, 'n' with indiscrim'nit cherity, Fer wut we call reception eggs air sunthin' of a rerity;

Green ones is plentifle anough, skurce

wuth a nigger's getherin', But your dead-ripe ones ranges high fer treatin' Nothun bretherin; A spotteder, ringstreakeder child the' warn't in Uncle Sam's

Holl farm,

a cross of stripëd pig an' one o' Jacob's lambs; 'T wuz Dannil in the lions' den, new an' enlarged edition,

An' everythin' fust-rate o' 'ts kind; the' warn't no impersition. People 's impulsiver down here than wut our folks to home be,

An' kin' o' go it 'ith a resh in raisin' Hail Columby:

Thet's so an' they swarmed out like bees, for your real Southun men's Time is n't o' much more account than an ole settin' hen's;

(They jest work semioccashnally, or else don't work at all,

An' so their time an' 'tention both air at

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But this wuz all prelim'nary; it 's so Gran' Jurors here

Fin' a true bill, a hendier way than

ourn, an' nut so dear;

So arter this they sentenced me, to make all tight 'n' snug,

Afore a reg'lar court o' law, to ten years in the Jug.

I did n't make no gret defence: you don't feel much like speakin', When, ef you let your clamshells gape, a quart o' tar will leak in :

I hev hearn tell o' winged words, but pint o' fact it tethers

The spoutin' gift to hev your words tu thick sot on with feathers,

An' Choate ner Webster would n't ha' made an A 1 kin' o' speech Astride a Southun chestnut horse sharper 'n a baby's screech.

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They jest uncorked an' le' me run,

an'

in my stid the sinner sent To see how he liked pork 'n' pone flavored with wa'nut saplin',

An' nary social priviledge but a one-hoss, starn-wheel chaplin.

When I come out, the folks behaved mos' gen'manly an' harnsome; They 'lowed it would n't be more 'n right, ef I should cuss 'n' darn

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They gut up a subscription, tu, but no | Nut but wut they 're ez good ez gold, but

gret come o' thet;

I'xpect in cairin' of it roun' they took a leaky hat;

Though Southun genelmun ain't slow at puttin' down their name, (When they can write,) fer in the eend it comes to jes' the same, Because, ye see, 't 's the fashion here to sign an' not to think

A critter 'd be so sordid ez to ax 'em for the chink:

I did n't call but jest on one, an' he

drawed toothpick on me, An' reckoned he warn't goin' to stan' no sech doggauned econ'my; So nothin' more wuz realized, 'ceptin' the good-will shown,

Than ef't had ben from fust to last a reg'lar Cotton Loan.

It's a good way, though, come to think,

coz ye enjy the sense O'lendin' lib'rally to the Lord, an' nary red o' 'xpense:

Sence then I've gut my name up for a

gin'rous-hearted man

By jes' subscribin' right an' left on this high-minded plan;

I've gin away my thousans so to every Southun sort

O' missions, colleges, an' sech, ner ain't no poorer for 't.

I warn't so bad off, arter all; I need n't hardly mention

That Guv'ment owed me quite a pile for my arrears o' pension,

I mean the poor, weak thing we hed: we run a new one now,

Thet strings a feller with a claim up ta the nighes' bough,

An' prectises the rights o' man, purtects down-trodden debtors, Ner wun't hev creditors about a

scrougin' o' their betters: Jeff's gut the last idees ther' is, poscrip', fourteenth edition, He knows it takes some enterprise to run an oppersition; Ourn's the fust thru-by-daylight train,

with all ou'doors for deepot; Yourn goes so slow you'd think 't wuz drawed by a las' cent'ry teapot; Wal, I gut all on 't paid in gold afore our State seceded,

An' done wal, for Confed'rit bonds warn't jest the cheese I needed :

then it's hard a-breakin' on 'ein, An' ignorant folks is ollers sot an' wun't

git used to takin' on 'em ; They're wuth ez much ez wut they wuz afore ole Mem'nger signed 'em, An' go off middlin' wal for drinks, when ther's 's a knife behind 'em ; We du miss silver, jes' fer thet an' ridin' in a bus,

Now we've shook off the desputs thet wuz suckin' at our pus;

An' it 's because the South 's so rich; 't wuz nat❜ral to expec'

Supplies o' change wuz jes' the things we should n't recollec';

We'd ough' to ha' thought aforehan', though, o' thet good rule o' Crockett's,

For 't 's tiresome cairin' cotton-bales an' niggers in your pockets,

Ner 't ain't quite hendy to pass off one o' your six-foot Guineas An' git your halves an' quarters back in gals an' pickaninnies :

Wal, 't ain't quite all a feller 'd ax, but then ther's this to say,

It's on'y jest among ourselves thet we expec' to pay;

Our system would ha' caird us thru in any Bible cent'ry,

'fore this onscripterl plan come up o' books by double entry;

We go the patriarkle here out o' all sight an' hearin',

Jacob warn't a suckemstance to
Jeff at financierin'

For

He

never'd thought

An'

Esau like all nater

borryin' from

then cornfiscatin' all debts to sech a small pertater;

There's p'litickle econ'my, now, combined 'ith morril beauty

Thet saycrifices privit eends (your in'my's, tu) to dooty!

Wy, Jeff'd ha' gin him five an' won his eye-teeth 'fore he knowed it, An', stid o' wastin' pottage, he 'd ha' eat it up an' owed it.

But I wuz goin' on to say how I come here to dwall;

'Nough said, thet, arter lookin' roun', I liked the place so wal, Where niggers doos a double good, with us atop to stiddy 'em, By bein' proofs o' prophecy an' suckleatin' medium,

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