The Arkansas banner., 1843-09-30

l head; in deierence to which commodities. i was currently held in bar-rooms and other such places of resort, that the major was a man of huge sagacity. He was further to be known by heavy eye and dull slow man. ner; and for bemg a man of that kind who mentally speaking-requires deal of room to turn himself ill. Bnt in trading on his stock of wisdom, he invariably proceeded on the principle of putting all the goods he had. (and more) into his window; and that went great way with his constituency of admi- rers. It went a great way, perhaps, with Mir. Jefferson Brick, who took occasion to whisper in Martins ear:
 One of the most remarkable men in our country, sir;o
 It must not be supposed, however, that the perpetual exhibition in the market place of all his stock in trade for sale or hire. was the majors sole claim to a very large share of sympathy and support He was a great politician; and the one article of his creed, m reference to allpublic obligations involving the good faith and integrity of his country, was, ''run a moist pen slick through every thing, and start fresh.o This made him a pdGllob. III oolillHCi dlldlIS He was q DOlU speculator, In plainer words he had most distinguished genius for swindling, and could start bank, or negotiate a loan. or form a land-jobbing company (entail ruin, pesti- lence, and death, on hundreds of families1 with any gifted creature in the Union. This made him an admirable man of business. He could hang about a bar-room, discussing the affairs of the nation, for twelve hours to- gether; and in that time could hold forth with more mtolerable dulness, chew more tobacco, smoke more tobacco, drink more mm-toddy, mint-julep, gin-sling, and cocktail, than any private gentleman of his acquaint- ance. This made him an orator and man of the people. In word, the major was a rising character, and a popular character, and was in a fair way to be sent by the popular party to the State House of New Y ork, if not in the end to Washing ton itself But as mans private prosperity does not always keep pace with his patriotic devotion to public affairs and as fraudulent transactions have their own downs as well as ups; the major was occasionally under cloud. Hence, just now, Mrs. Hawkins kept a boarding-house, and Major Hawkins rather ''loafed'' his time away, than other wise.
 '' Y ou have come to visit our country, sir. at a season of great commercial depression,o said the major.
 ''At an alarming crisis,' said the colonel
 '' At period ofunprecedented stagnation,n said Mr. Jefferson Brick.
 < l am sorry to hear that" returned Mar s. lflc not nj. pi17 tG iaeI
 Martin knew nothing about Ameri=a, or he would have known perfectly well that if its individual citizens, to man, are to be believed, 1t always IS depressed, and always is stagnated, and always IS at an alarming crisis, and never was otherwise; though as a body they are ready to make oath upon the Eyangeliss at any hour of the day or night, that 1t is the most thriving and pros porous of all countries on the habiable globe
 " It's not likely to last, hope p said Mar tin.
 < Well p' returned the major, q expect we shall get along somehow, and come right in the end
 ''We are an elastic country" said the Rowdy Journal.
 s'We are young lion,o said Mir. Jefferson Brick.
 ''We have revivifying and vigorous prin- ciples within ourselves observed the ma or. :. Shall we drink bitter alore dinner, colonel in
 The colonel assenting to this proposal with great alacrity, Major Hawkins proposed an adjournment to neighboring bar-room, which, as he observed, was < only in the hIooIy , EIo tbo,, raforroI Map4i,, Mrs. Hawkins for all particulars connected with the rate of board and lodging, and in- formed him that he would have the pleasure of seeing that lady at dinner, which would soon be ready, as the dinner hour was two o'clock, and it only wanted a quarter now. This reminded him that if the bitter were to be taken at all, there was no time to lose so he walked off without more ado, and left them to follow if they thought proper.
 When the maj or rose from his rocking chair before the stove, and so disturbed the hot air and balmy whitf of soup which fan ned their brows, the odor of stale tobacco became so decidedly prevalent as to leave no doubt of its proceeding mainly from that gen. tleman's attire. Indeed as Martin walked behind him to the bar-room, he could not help thinking that the great square maJor, III his listlessness and languor, looked very much like stale weed himself, such as might be hoed out of the public garden with great ad- vantage to tic decent growth of that preserve, and tossed on some congenial dunghlll
 They encountered more weeds in the bar room, some of whom (being thirsty souls as well as dirty) were pretty stale in one sense, and pretty fresh in another. Among them was gentleman who, as Martin gathered from the conversation that took place over the bitter, started that afternoon for the Far West on six months business tour; and who, as his outfit and equipment for this journey, had just such another shiny hat and just such another little pale valise, as had composed the luggage of the gentleman who came from England in the Screw.
 They were walking back very leisurely :; Martin arm in arm with Mir. Jefferson Brick, and the major and colonel side-by-side be- fore them; when, as they came within a lo,ea rr tv,o of inc maior1s reSidence they