The Rodney telegraph. (Rodney, Miss.) 1838-1840, 1839-05-18


lcct--and as all must see and know that r,v
only motive is to bring imme diatelv bef;,.
the public, the productions Of one destined
to eclipse her. contemporaries, and stand up-
rivalled in the literary world. trust thew
will not be disposed TO Judge me harshlv
Leila possesses rare cndowments-as ~
deep research, her intimate acquaintance
with the classics and the case and facility
with which she can quote Cicero, abundan,Iv
bears testimony. She is not like the great
majority Of the word-the learned Of No
present day-for let me remark, (but this is
a secren that halfth M. DIS and l.. l.. BIS
who flood the country with pills and bad
laws, are as ignorant Of the language in
which Cicero wrote, or Cesar commanded
| am Of Arabic or Chinese. In our dav,
when Doctors and Lawyers are manufact,,-
red for southern market, with the facility
patent steam press throws off its impress
sions, we are not surprised that they should
carry all their Greek and Latin in a neatly.
bound book, carefully preserved in the
pocket Of the coat, with all the necessary
classic quotations, occurring in regular order.
and ready for use on all important occasions.
Do not understand me as uttering soil
tary sentence in disparagement of the learn
ing and ability Of my fair friend: far be it
from me to de,ract from the well meri,ed
fame of one who has contributed so LARGELY
to the dissemination of letters in the Missis-
sippl Valley, and who, as poet and scholar.
holds deservedly high rank among the
literati of the age. wish to be understood
as deprecating practice too common among
writer's Of the present day, (but which re-
ljoice to say has been avoided by the erudite
Leila) of forcing into the most trivial news
paper controversy, learned quotations, deri-
we'd from sources, with the intrinsic value of
which the writer IS as profoundly ignorant.
as we are of the class Of inhabitants who
people the planet Mercury. 1t is evidently
The offspring of bad taste to address an indi-
vidual in an unknown tongue, when YOU are
intimately acquainted with his own lam
guage, and can speak it with the utmost ease
and fiuency. There is too much of the pe-
dant, too little of the real scholar, in such
productions, and many young, authors have
sunk into utter neglect and forgetfulness.
who, by nature, were gifted with ample en-
dowments to qualify them for any sphere in
life, for the simple reason, that they failed to
make proper application OF the gifts which
nature had so bountifully bestowed.
| l regret that Leila, while making out such
flatterlng character oftle ungallant Kara,
should have deemed it necessary to endow
him with genius" that "breaks wild and
furious upon the minds of men, corrupting
every thing it touches, and tainting the very
atmosphere we breathe" Such pestiferous
| fellows are dangerous companions-and
grieved am that Leila should have miscon-
ceived my real merits, and visited upon nv
unoHending head punishment SO severe
for though rude in Speech" am no. in
sensible TO the charms of beauty, or those
ornaments of the mind that add grace and
dignity to the possessor. Indeed, have al
ways looked upon myself as quite peaceable
and inoffensive, and though Leila shows
evident signs of aversion, her approximations
are utterly groundless, and she will find me,
on more intimate acquaintance, as harmless
as Valeira's poems, and not more dangerous
to the touch. Unfortunately for my peace,
our paths in life are parallel, with scarce a
hope that they will ever approximate; but
should Leila ever be so unfortunate, as to
lose her way, (of which, however, there is
small danger,) she has the undoubted right,
in all emergencies, to claim my protection
And whether her versatile talent shall be
devoted to the muses., or to the production
of those thrilling "tales of PASSION" for
which she is SO eminetly qualified by nature
and education, to lend deep and absorbing
interesi,-among her votaries, and ever ready
to bear ample testimony to the unbounded
success of her labors, may be found the hum
Die and unambitious
| KARA