Texas Planter (Brazoria, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 24, Ed. 1, Wednesday, December 14, 1853 Page: 1 of 4
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-DEVOTED TO LITERATURE AGRICULTURE AND GENERAL INTELLIGENCE-
VOL. 2.
BEAZOEIA TEXAS "WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14 1853.
KG.
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Is Published every Wednesday.
AIlATHROP EDXTOB8&PtfMEIOBS.
TERMS.
SUBSCRIPTION $250 a year in advance; $3
-kh;u -is ui".' -; or .$350 at the end of the year.
ADV1SRT1SBUEXTS Will be inserted at one dol-
lar ps- -quart wf ten lines or less for the first
insertion ?.r.l Ifty cents for each subsequent
insertion A. i'beral discount from the above
s xaiss- to ." i v '"o advertise by the year.
2? m t siir
Slopes aiicOFedrs.
Our'hopcs aiu like the wreaths of foam
Tiat glitter on each shining wave
When with a gushing sound they coma
The yrhitc and thirsty beach to lave.
The vaters part the ripples gleam
A mon.ont i the silent shore
And vhis1. - -he hopes that seem
A uiomat t.jight andare no more.
ISseking vjt c e for fame for power
To the f:ur 1 reads of life we cling
ior hope we J1 a withered flower
Aad xne a 'Mrp" with broken string.
And hope u-ill -'led a glimmering ray
. Of Jigbt c r-tjasurc's rnioed shrine
Por monldenr.z columns still Took gay
When suniiut r sunbeams o'er them shine.
Though s rei ei be love's magic chain
Stiil to i: broken charms we trust
Ant r-rpe to in end the links again
Vt aen grc? -.& eaten them like rust.
Prafi h-5 The buoblcs on the beach
That hope may be a transient beam
But reft of joy 'tis sweet to teach
The heart to hush its grief and dream.
Our hopes arc like the flowcra that bloom
Upon the mountain's verdant side
That mountain's heart a burning tomb
t Cleft bj- the lava's scorching tide.
They spring and flourish fade and did
Like human hopes -as frail and fair
While quenchless iires beneath them lie
Like human passions hidden there.
Our fears are like the clouds that she'd
Their gloom across a summer sky
When life is fairest some wild dread
Of grief is ever hovering nigh.
The gicoin mar pass tho shadows fade
And sunlight only seem to reign
But still there is a lingering shade;
A fear that clouds will come again.
Where the bright wells of gladness sp'ring
Hope uill the youthful heart decoy
"!2ut fear is hovering there to fling
A shadow on thepath of joy.
. A C.H??"-V n wHiin thn f.if
A serpent in the linnet's nest:
A sentry ever grim and mute.
Is fear within the human breast.
A. rainbow never spans the lky
But some dark spirit of the "storm
With sable plume is hovering nigh
. To watch its soft and fairy form.
Hope never chants her fairy song
. Or bids us rest beneath her wing
But fear -n ith all his phantom throng
Is in the distance hoveiing.
We seek the laural wreath of fame;
And all her fickle favors trust
To live perchance without a name
And find the chaplet turn to dust.
Life wears away 'mid smiles and tears
. The wedding peal the funeral :
But though o'ershadowed still by feara
Hope is the sunlight of the soul.
A JFriendi
BT iiISS JULIA rLEA3AX73.
Commend me to the friend who comes
When I am iad and lone.
And makes the anguish of my heart
The sufferings of his own ;
Who coldly shuns the glittering throng
At Pleasure's gay levee
But comes to gild a sombre hour
And give his heart to me.
He hears me cdunt my sorrows o'eq
And when the task is done
He freely gives me all I ask
A sigh for every one.
He cannot wear a smiling brow
When mine is touched with gloom
But like the violet seeks to cheer
The midnight with perfume.
Commend me to that generous heart)
Whicn like the pine on highj
Uplifts the same unvarying brow
To every changing sk-;
Whoso filendeliip ttats-job-i-!e-trfn2r -
When wintry tempests blow
But like the winter's ivy crown
Looks greener through the snow.
He flics not with the flitting flock
That eek tne southern sky
But lingers where the wounded bird
Hath laid him down to die.
Ohj such a friend I he i? in truth
Whate'er his lot may be
A rainbow on the storm of life
An anchor on its sea.
JIunisville Democrat.
it S .
Wail through the bosom of the night
Storm-wmd how strong thou art !
Thou canst not change the inward sky
The summer of my heart.
Shed thy cold tears oh winter rain!
Sob through the twilight dim
I only feel the sunshine's glow.
Is ripening fruit for him.
Bend your brown branches leafless trees!
Beneath the wintry sky;
I know for me the harvest time
The vintage hour is nigh.
The grapes arc glowing on the vine
For Love's own hand to take
But he must p toss them with Ids lip
The wtne cf life to nrake I
"f1
Fast Eating-'
BY WILLIAM COX.
There is an awful stigma hanging over
the United States which if lemedial meas-
ures be not speedily taken will affix an in-
delible stain upon the countiy. Every na-
tion is distinguished by some peculiarity ;'
the French are great dancers the English
great di inkers the Germans great smokers
and so on ; and if a reform does not speed-
ily take place Americans will be forever
characterized as "fast eaters." All travellers
of all countries liberal prejudiced or indif-
ferent let tham no-re. or disagree as they
may about other matters have been
most unanimous in noticing this strange
trait this national sin this heedless and
unthinking abuse of the good things of the
table. There are numberless individual ex
ceptions doubtless but no particular section
of the country is exempt from the reproach :
from Maine to Mexico from the ceaseless
dash of the Atlantic to the silence of the )ri-
meval forest in all hotels boarding-houses
and steamboats the same rash and furious
application of the jaw-bone is prevalent.
This is-inconsiderate this is foolish this is
wrong.- The follies vices and habits of oth-
er nations can be accounted for. Doubtless
the French English and Germans derive
zeal and essential satisfaction from dancing
drinking and smoking; but where can be
the profit where the pleasure in hastily
and incautiously destroying a good appe-
tite ? in swallowing with heedless precipi-
tancy without thought pause or reflec-
tion the choice treasures of nature? It is
ungrateful and ingratitude is the worst of
vices.
We will suppose a stranger seating him-
self at the table of an American hotel; as is
the custom of the country. Well we will
suppose him not one of your extremely par-
ticular or affected class that cannot possibly
eat without they have a room to themselves I
out a iree nearty cosmopolitan sort oi man
who has his preferences but can keep them j
under aud dnie either alone or among a
multitude as the whim takes him or as cir-
cumstances mayiequire: at the same time
maik yon a judicious man a man that
likes his dinner. The stranger glances his
eye along the well-filled board and experi-
ences a glow of internal satisfaction at the
result of his inquisition for in no country
under heaven is there a greater abundance
of substantiate and delicacies a more pro-
jiiaauiinglip nf suhsfcineas for -die gross ap-
peasement of the appetite and the playful
and luxurious amusement or the palate than
on an American table. Well he is helped
to half a pigeon. He hears a strange com-
motion going on around a rattling of
knives and forks a changing of plate3
entreaties to be helped in an impatient or
beseeching tone and brief or querulous re-
sponses: but he looks not round; it is no
business of his : he has no u divided duty "
to perform: his entire faculties (as is most
proper) are devoted to the due and proper
appreciation of what he has before him. In
due t;me he comes to a conclusion and
thoughtfully revolves within his own mind
what is most worthy to succeed pigeon. In
order to aid his decision he glances his eye
along the board when horror of hdfidrs 1
what a scene of devastation meets his gaze !
The late fair and goodly prospect has total-
ly disappeared and in its place fragmentary
pheasants skeleton turkeys crushed and
mangled ducks and all the unseemly re-
mains and marks of a hurried and ferocious
onslaught upon the provisions present them-
selves in every direction. Can this be pos-
sible ! He can scarcely credit his optics or
believe that it has been brought about by
natural agencies. It looks more like one of
the sudden and malicious changes recorded
in an eastern tale. What can be the mean-
ing of this ? Can there have been some
wager of importance pending of which he
was ignorant ; can one side of the table have
been eating against the other or has it been
a match against time ? These and a hun-
dred other surmises float through his per-
turbed brain the while a general rush from
the table is taking place. He beckons the
waiter and inquires if the house is on fire ?
or if anything strange or wonderful is to be
seen in the city that the company are
crowding away in such extraordinary hurry
and. agitation f Tiie waiter grins and con-
tinues to clear away the dishes. There is no
alternative for the unhappy man and he
rises from his recently commenced meal and
departs inwardly resolving (if possible) to
dine alone on the-morrow.
Scattered around the hoitse or Iounrrin
at the door lie sit or stand one half of the
late congregation the most of them dying
of ennui after having thus barbarously cur-
tailed one of the mostagieeable duties of the
four-anu-twenty ljours.
The traveller goes forth but he sees no
more fine scenery that day. The acidity
and flatulency natural to an empty stomach
pervade and color all his views of na-
tuie and society ; and if he keeps a note
book his remarks on manueis ;nd customs
and things in general are savage in the ex-
treme. This may in part account for the
numerous volumes of prejudice and misie-
presentation that have been published about
the United States; ;'. it i not in human
natuie for a man to d justice to his fellow-
creatures in a state of bodily inanition. How
is it to be expected that he can speak impar-
tially of the laws and institutions of a coun-
try in which he has been dehauded of his
dinner !
A fast cater ma1 be a man of informa-
tion. bp can never be a. man of taste; for
I why he lacks the gift of appreciation. He
may swallow the contents of many books
I and gorge any given quantity of facts in the
same voracious manner as he gorges his
food but he will never be A man that loves
the beautiful either in art or natuie. He
will not care a whit about sunsets of- the
choicest groupings of wood and water; and
a panoramic exhibition or the scenery of a
play-hoik e will suit him better than the
delicate graces and minute finish of a Leslie
or a JNewton. He may enjoy the rich hu-
mor of a Smollett because it is at the same
time broad and obvious but he will never
detect the subdued quiet manifestation of
the same quality in a Goldsmith or relish
the exnuicite"nle7isarftrresor vet nner pntWrrTians
of Charles Lamb; aud as for noting the
lights and shadows or feeling the more sub-
tle beauties of poetry how can it possibly
be expected of a person that eats shad just
as fast as he eats halibut ?
For be it observed before we proceed fur
ther there are shades of difference in those
matters. It would be very wiong to im-
pute the same degree of criminality to a
man who Ate halibut in a hurry as to him
who used shad soles or salmon after the
same fashion. Some ascetic people may cen-
sure this cry out about over-fine distinc-
tions exclaim agaiust the pampering of the
palate and say that all are created for the
same purpose to appease hunger and afford
nourishment and that the manner of eating
them is altogether immaterial. This is ob-
vious nonsense or why are the latter fish
gifted with finer properties: richer essences!
Were it merely to occupy a void or satisfy
a cravings all fish might as well have been
of the halibut species. But such people
know not where their dogmas would carry
them. Why cook our meat ? Savage triebs
eat the unboiled and unbroiled bullock or
buffalo and their hunger is appeased and
their bodies nourished. But we are civilised.
" Go to them" A man that is making his
dinner off Irish mess pork is of course ouly
conscious that he is masticating a something
of a salt hard and oleaginous nature. It is
a mere mechanical process for an obvious
and necessary purpose and no one can reas-
onably attach blame to him for getting expe-
ditiously through what may truly be consid-
ered his task : but not so with him whose
good fortune it is to have any of the delica-
cies of ocean earth or air befoie him sub-
stances gifted with a hidden flavor that re-
quires as it were to be brought out and
analyzed. For such a one to eat hurriedi3T
crunthiriMnglyis icr neglect tiio advajitacrtia
of opportunity and slight the good and gra-
cious gifts of nature.
But there is yet a stronger case. A lob-
ster now. Look at the care" the skill the
patience required for the proper preparation
of that testaceous animal; the firmness and
discrimination requisite for an efficient
mingling of the manifold materials so that
there be no undue predominance that oil
preponderates not oyer vinegar or vinegar
over oil that pepper be not too obtrusive;
but that the various ingredients be mixed
blended into one mass fused into each oth-
er like unto many instruments combining
without the shadow of a discord in a strain
of heavenly harmony. Now what chall we
say of a man thatswalldws this as if he were
swallowing mush and milk or bean porridge.
Is he pardonable or is he not ?
These are matters that crave reflection.
It is to be feared that the custom of habitu-
ally dining together in large bodies through-
out the Union has much aggrevated this
evil propensity of fast-eating. As forty or
fifty noisy ill-disposed people can in a thea-
tre disturb a large audience and mar the
acting of the finest drama so can halt-a-dozen
voracious persons disorganize a whole
table aud induce a. contagious fury in the
many present; for it is a hard trial for hu-
man nature to sit and see the choice mor-
sels of the feast liberally pitch:d down the
throats of gluttons with a precipitancy that
a pig would use in the swallowing of acorns.
What adds to a man's vexation 1s the con-
sciousness that what the glutton devours is
totally unappreciated (for eveiy good man
and slow-eater feels an honeat sympathy a
sort of reflected pleasure in seeing another
enjoy his dinner;) that placing epicurean
morsels before the said glutton is truly
"casting pearls before swine" and that the
very things that would have afforded himself
a fund of deliberate gidtifiuutiuu liae been
actually wasted ! His nature is suddenly
changed at the sight of such outrages ; he
becomes possessed as with a demon and in
stead of eating his dinner like a Christian
man he attacks it like a ravening wolf.-
Riit. tliA p.vil does not stop here. What was
at first done in a fit of nervous irritability
or self-preservation becomes through too
frequent repetition from the same cause a
confirmed habit and heuce the gross misuse
of the palate that so generally prevails and
heuce the systematic abuse of a most pleas-
ing sense a sensethat is the first to come
to us and last to leave us in this our state of
mutation and change.
These are serious truths and not to be
classed with the petty affectations that have
been and are still prevalent regarding eat-
ing and drinking and the regulation- of the
table. There are a set ot wuat is biyicu
"fashionable novels" who make an im-
mense parade of their knowledge f what is
proper to be eaten and what is not and
what is vulgar and what is not; of the
.ibnmiiiation of malt liouoro aud the "hor
rid impropriety"' of taking such a wine with
such a mviat. Such people are themselves
very vulgar and their minds are small.
Nothing can be more contracted or super-
ficial than their noxious : as if any eeusible
man would be balked of what he liked by
their silly impertinences. Nearly all civil-
ized peoj'le agree upon the difference be-
tween coarse and refined food ; but further
than this are not palates as varied as men
audwould they prate to us of what is pro-
per and fashionable therefor ? Would they
subject the immutable laws of nature and
the tastes and predilections engrafted by
her to mere conventional rules and the
truiripery ordinances of fashion ? Fashion !
It is all well enough with regard to dress
but becomes ridiculous when attempted to
be applied to such a serious and important
matter as eating. Such stuff may impose
upon would-be fashiotmUos and reaTvulga-
upon wnre
" Slare3 to propriety of every acrt "
or what they consider propriety ; but no
man with any independence of palate will
submit to regulate his tastes and appetites by
the transient whims or caprices of others.
There is only one grand fundamental rule to
be laid down regarding the. table
" Lcorn to eat tlovi ! All other graces
Will follow in their proper places."
Tfiic JLove of Miiuey.
In the catechism of the Nineteenth CeD-
tury. says Hiram Fuller the true-answer to
the question " What is the chief end of
man :" should be Monet. When one
pauses to reflect upon this universal scram-
ble after " the root of all evil" the money-
inahia of the day becomes a sort of miracu-
lous phenomenon. It seems to be the sum-
mum t'onzm of human existence the ultima
thule of human effort. Men work for it
fight for it beg' " it steal for it 6tarve for
it preach for itj lie for it live for it and die
for it. And all the while from the cradle
to the grave nature and God are ever thun-
dering in our ears the solemn question
" What shall it profit a man to gam the
whole world and lose his own soul V This
madness for money is the strongest and
lowest of the passions ; it is the insatiate
Moloch of the human heart before whose
remorsdles3 altar all the finer attributes of
humanity are sacrificed. It makes merchan-
dise of all that is eacred in human affections;
and eren traffics in the awful solemnity of
the eternal world. Fathers sell their daugh-
ters for gold ; and temples dedicated to re-
ligion are used as marts for the display of
the glittering temptation.
Miserly men in the" possession of great
wealth and who pretend to love their chil-
dren as.tha " apple of their eye" will stint
and keep them cramped and miserable for
want of money through all the earlier and
better years of their existence ; &nd when
death relaxes the old man's grasp from his
money bags tht of erwhelming avalanche of
wealth becomes often a curse rather than a
blessing to his heirs. Human life at longest
ia but a span a fleeting dream a passing
apparition in the phantasmagora of Time.
What folly to devote it to an unscrupulous
struggle for 'hat " which perishoth with the
uaing!" Hunt's Merchant's Mag.
" Sub8tantull Justick." Some years
since & Bystem of Courts was established in
Michigan called County Courts presided
over by one Elective Judge. They usually
were (Jailed the "One Horse Courts." They
were designed in the words of their inven-
tors to bring justice to every man's door.
In one county they elected a certain Judge
M. who made up in assumption and decis-
ion what he was destitute of in regard to
knowledge of law. The judge had one ex-
pression under which he cloaked all his ig-
norance and perplexities and that was that
" he must decide accordiug to the principles
of substantial justicei" On one occasion a
culprit was undergoing his trial for petit
larceny. The offender was an old one and
everybody believed him guilty but the evi-
dence came up lameutably deficient. After
the arguments were closed the judge arose
to charge the juryi He talked very pom-
pously around itj and around itj and had
determined to have the fellow convicted but
he could not fortify his charge by the facts
and the law. At last after floundering about
for a long time aud vexed at the position
in which he was placed he closed in the
following summary manner: "Gentlemen
you must never lose sight of substantial jus-
tice. That is the end of all law. The evi-
dence may be rather deficient in this case
but gentlemen you ought I think to keep
in view the eternal principles of substantial
justice. Gentlemen I think this man ought
to be convicted. He is a d d rascal any
how he stole my wood all last winter any
how and I think you had better bring him
in guilty any how." Toledo Blade.
American Inqunuitt Matter that al-
most Thinks. Among the multitudinous
objects in the Patent Office at Washington
aud which evince what skill can do " is an
invention that picks up pius from a confused
heap turns them all around with their heads
up and sticks them in papers in regular
rows another goes through the whole pro
cess or cigar making tuning m iuu;io;u
leuve8 and turning out the perfect article.
One machine cuts cheese; another scours
knives and forks; another blacks boots; an-
other rocks the cradle; and some take in
washing and ironing. Another patent ib
for a machine that counts the passengers in
an omnibus and takes their fare. When a
fat man gets in it counts two ana cnarges
doub'e. Thero arc a variety of guns that
load themselves; a hh line that adjusts its
own bait; and a rat trap that thiov.s away
the nit and theu baits and sets itself and
stands is the eorner for another."
"eilizs Tilings uj toep.."
"Ah! Bob how are you and when did
you arrive 1"
"First-rate day before yesterday. By
the wp.y announce my arrival put. things
up steep it may enable me to make a ten
strike."
" I will do so with pleasure."
The next morning the Tomahawk of Free-
dom contained the following pink-tinged
announcement i
" Among the arrivals by the steamer Eu-
ropa yesterday was our esteemed friend
Robert Gasbag formerly of this city. Du-
ring the past ten years Mr. Gasbag has
been a resident of Australia where he has
amassed a fortune or nabobical proportions.
Mr. G. is stopping at the Irving house for a
few days. Next week he leaves for the
West for the purpose of purchasing a couple
of copper mines."
Among the earlier readers of this notico
was "old Slocum" of Hartford. When he
first run his eyes over it he could scarcely
credit his senses. " What" said he " Gas-
bag a millionaire well that is news. I
must inform neighbor Smith of his rare
good fortune and take the necessary steps
for securing that due-bill." The steamboat
that left Hartford that night had on its reg-
ister the names of Jedediah Slocum and
Tribulation Smith.
The next morning the passengers afore-
Eaid might have been seen in the reception
room of the Irving.
" Anybody stopping here by the name of
Gasbag?" "Yes sir; Eobert Gasbag the
millionaire from Australia : you will nnd
him in parlor No. 1 first floor fronting
Broadway." Slocum and Smith ascended
to "the first floor" they also entered "par-
larNo. 1 fronting on Broadway" "Mr.
Gasbag I believe."
" Yes sir Gasbag from Australia."
" And once I think a resident of Hart-'
ford."
" Hartford ye-s I believe I did etop
there for a month or so."
41 And during that month or sc you con-
tracted sundry debta which you were for-
ced to leave unliquidated. One of these
debts is held by me. and the other by my
friend Smith. They amount to 530 dollars
and we should very much like to write 're-
ceived payment' at the bottom."
" Really gentlemen you take me unpre-
pared. The debt is unquestionably an hon-
est one but I lack means to discharge it."
" That won't do my dear sir you are
rolling in- vredth muck SO that the very
newspapers have to notice your vast posses-
sions." Here Slocum took out the "Toma-
hawk of Freedom " and read that " steep
notice" to which we have already referred.
" Mr. Gasbag it won't do you are a man
of means and must shell out. If you have
not the ready you must make us an assign-
ment of 3ome property that will place the
debt beyond contingency." " But my dear
sir" "There is no but about it you must
pay up make an assignment or we will im-
mediately hand you over to the sheriff."
What could Gasbag dof Surrounded
by unexpected calamity he made a yirtue
of necessity took pen ink and paper and
assigned to Smith and. Slocum " their heirs
and assigns" all that certain piece and par-
cel of property known as the "Meadow dale
farm" in the county of Westchester. In
less than an hour after Gasbag had exe-
cuted the document he was enroute for
Canada to prevent an arrest for a fraudu-
lent assignment.
Moral. Never ask an editor to " set you
up steep" till you are quite sure that cer-
tain creditors and due-bills ara dead.
Gasbag had been to Australia but instead
of coming back a millionaire he returned
" busted up and done for." He thought a
good puff wojuld'put him on his legs again
and so it did if we have any regard for
the way he struck out for Montreal. Re-
member his fate. Never crow till you are
out of the woods.
.SLaat -Bays o Mozart.
This gifted composer unfortunately like
most men of genius impulsive and erratic
now on a mountain wave of joyons emotions
aud anon in the deep and gloomy vale of
melancholy was alas ! too often the victim
of seductive wiles and his high and noble
nature frequently yielded to appetite and
passion. Would that it had been otherwise ;
but the snares and blandishments of fashion-
able life were around him and he must have
been more than a man to haye withstood
their powers.
One of the most pleasant reflections con-
nected with his eventful history was the un-
wavering attachment and tenderness of his
faithful wife who stood by him in every
hour and would not allow her affections to
become .alienated notwithstanding the mis-
givings of her heart and the many rumors
which came to her ears. In the midst of
all tnis noble woman clung to him to the
last.
A frame so delicate as that of Mozart's
could not always stand the heavy draws
made upon it. The days and nights of in-
tense mental labor added to tho dissipation
which almost necessarily connected itself with
the circles in which he moved made fearful
iu roads upon his health. It was during the
composition of the Zaubdi Udte that the man-
ifestation of those symptoms which por-
tended the decay of his vital powers and a
o-eueral bi caking up of his constitution first
appeared. As usual he grew interested in
his work and wrote incessantly by day and
by night but not as formerly with inipuni-
ty. He often fainted away over his eompo-
sitious and remained for several minutes be-
foi e consciousness returned. His health buf-
fered so much that he was obliged to sus-
pend his labors and take ai excurtion to
Baden While there he executed his "Ave
Vernum Corpus" a strain of such calm
but exalted religious feeling as may well
inteipret his sensations in sickness and soli-
tude. About this period one of the most curi
ous it not mysterious incidents ot Ins ire oc-
curred. As he sit musingly in his study
one day ho was surprised by the entrance
j of a stranger who presented him a letter
Titiioiit any signature the purport of which
was to inquire whether he would undertake
t.:c composition or a JKeqmem and also to
ascertain when he could have it ready and
what would be its price ? Mozart after con-
sulting his wife agreed to the proposition
of the unknown fixed the price and received
twenty-five ducats as part payment but
would not determine the time of its comple-
tion. He was informed by the stranger that
it would be vain to trouble himself about
who his employer was and that he would
never regi-et the undertaking.
After the departure of the mysterious mes-
senger Mozart fell into a deep reverie and
suddenly calling for pen ink and paper he
began to write. His progress however was
interrupted bein called away on profes
sional business to Prague. Just as he was
entering the carriage the stranger appeared
and looking intensely at Mozart said
"How will the Requiem proceed now?"
On Mozart's giving him a satisfactory an-
swer they separated. While at Prague in
the midst of its mirth and revelry he had a
long presentment of his death ; and wept to
think on leaving that he should see his nu-
merous friends no more.
On his return he re-commenced the Re-
quiem ; but the thought of his death filled
him with melancholy. He labored in unu-
sual silence and dejection and seemed to be
possessed of one idea which eutirely ab-
sorbed his mind. Friends called and hi3
affectionate wife tried to rally him but all
in vain ; he seemed like one spell-bound
and labored on in sient abstraction. On a
fine day seated in a grove with his wife he
said to her " Constance I am writing this
Requiem for myself." She tried to reason
him out of his gloomy fancies but in vain.
His eyes filling with tears he answered :
" No no I cannot last long ; I have cer-
tamly ben poisoned." On consulting a
physician his Requiem was taken away
fromhiin- This pwrjueed?t momentarjrgf
lief and he so far recovered as to be able tor
attend a lodge of Free Masons which great-
ly revived his spirits.
Being partially restored he was allowed
to have his Requiem which he-so much de-
sired. With it came his former illness and
he was confined to bed ; but his Requiem
was constantly beside him. At 2 o'clock on
the same day on which he died he desired
some performers to sing the Requiem him
self taking the alto part. lien sthey pro-
ceeded so far as the first bars of tho Lary-
mosa Mozart burst into a flood of tears and
the score was removed. It was his last song
aud
" Svan-like Jnd sweet it wafted him hoiac."
Tae .Projrrcssives
Look at the progressive how they move i
All creation cannot stop them ! What will
be their destiny ? The predictions that old
things should become new are coming rap-
idly to pass and that which was once the
standard for utility and general excellence is
fading out of use. Invention has taken upon
itself the duty of pushing mankind through
their pilgrimage by all maimer of fast ma-
chines. There is no stopping by tho way;
no reclining in the mellow shade of sweet-
scented groves in summer time; no retire-
ment in secluded haunts when winter blasts
hold-.th.eir concerts ; no resting in pleasant
placed no walking around obstacles ; noth-
ing nothing but a eontinual go-ahead.-Everything
from a mole-hill to a mountain
a shallow rivulet to an ocoan are but " mere
trifles." Fire and steam are harnessed to
chariots of iron and whoever goes must rids
not like caravan drivers in moping trains
but in express and " lightning trains'
Hills and rocks and rivers and deep ravines
are no more to progress than dinner-houses
on a highway to travellers places to refresh
a little then push along. Wherever there
is a possibility of gain progress runs itself
into a fever which does not subside until ex-
aminations and a beginning aro made : and
if a failure happens who cries? Nobody r
for there is always something ready in which
the progressive cau find a "speculation."
It is not only in business that progress
moves but literature politics and every
profession and thing having a name is on
hurrying on. Books are growing eminent
ly progressiva. Bacon Locke aud Johnson
and others of the old school are becoming
dusty while tales romantic hasty sketches
t inl-linirs find rliv:iminor$. annflar and nrndnco
the most happy effects. Statesmen cry out
continually "let us advance;" politicians
second the motion and exclaim "get
awake and let ua be going" and so every-
body goes. Nobody has time to consider
where they are really going to yet it is gen-
erally expected that the trip will prove pro-
fitable. There may be such a thing as go-
in r too fast sometimes ; yet there is no dan-
ger so long as we can see the trees and
fence-rails though we dou'c get a chance to
count then . While we run let us not leave
beh::id the principles that are founded upon-
that kind of trnth which i& applicable at all
times and is. all ages
n
-jgW.
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Bell, James H. & Lathrop, A. S. Texas Planter (Brazoria, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 24, Ed. 1, Wednesday, December 14, 1853, newspaper, December 14, 1853; Brazoria, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth78368/m1/1/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.