The Arkansas banner., 1843-09-30


 who held strong sentiments touching the rig hts of women, and had dif1used the same in lectures but the rest were strangely de- void of individual traits of character, inso- much that any one of them might have changed minds with the other, and nobody would have found 1t out. These, by the way, were the only members of the party who did not appear to be among the most remarkable people in the country
 Several of the gentlemen got up, one by one. and walked off as they swallowed their last morsei; pausing generally by the stove for minute or so, to refresh themselves at the brass spittoons. few sendentary charac- ters, however, remained at table full quar- ter of an hour, and did not rise until the la dies rose, when all stood up
 "Where are they going?" asked Martin, in the ear of Mir. Jefferson Brick.
 ssTo their bedrooms, sir,o
 sls there no desert, or other interval of conversation p asked Martin, who was dis posed to enjoy himself after his long voyage
 "We are busy people here, sir, and have no time for that" was the reply.
 Sc the ladies passed out in single file Mr. Jefferson Brick and such other married gen lemen as were left, acknowledoino the de- parture of t,leir other halves by a nod and there was an end to Mem. Martin thought this an uncomfortable custom, but he kept his opinion to himself for the present, being anxious to hear, and inform himself by the conversation of the busy gentlemen, who now lounged about the stove as if a great weight had been taken off their minds by the withdrawal of the other sex; and who made a plentiful use of the spittoons and their toothpicks.
 It was rather barren of interest, to say the truth; and the greater part oft may be sum- med up in one word-dollars. All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues, and associ- at.ons, seemed to be melted down into dol- lars. Whatever the chance contributions that fell into the slow cauldron of their talk, they made the gruel thick and slab with dollars Men were weighed by their dollars, measures gtaged by their dollars; life was auctoneered. appraised, put up, and knocked down for it's dollars. The next respectable thing to dollars was any venture having their attainment for its end. The more of that worthless 1allast, honor and fair-dealing, which any man cast overheard from the ship of his Good Name and Good Intent, the more ample stowage- room he had for dollars. Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Delace the banner of the nation for an idle rag; pollute it star by star; and cut out stripe by stripe as from the arm of degraded soldier. Do any thing for dollars What is a flag to Hemt
 One who rides at all hazards of limb and life in chase of fox, will prefer to ride reck- lessly at most times. So 1t was with these gentlemen. He was the greatest patriot in their eyes, who brawled the loudest, and who cared the least for decency He was their champions, wilo ill tile brutal fury of lis own pursuit, could cast no stigma upon them, for the hot knavery of theirs. Thus, Martin learned in five minutes struggling talk about the stove, that to carry pistols into legisla- tive assemblies, and swords in sticks, and other such peaceful toys; to seize opponents by the throat, as dogs or rats might do, to buster, bully, and overbear by personal as salment; were glowing deeds. Not thrusts and stabs at Freedom, striking far deeper in- to her House of Life than any suItan's cime- ter could reach; but rare incense on her al- tars, having grateful scent in patriotic nos rils, and curling upward to the seventh heaven of Fame
 Once or twice when there was pause, Martin asked such questions as naturally oc- cured to him, being a stranger, about the national poets, the theatre, literature, and the arts. But the information which these gen. tleman were in condition to give him on such topics, did not extend beyond the eflil- sions of such master-spirits of the time, as Colonel Diver, Mir. Jefferson Brick, and others renowned, as it appeared, for excel fence in the achievement of a peculiar style of broadside-essay called Ca screamer.o
 s'We are a busy people, sir" said one of the captains, who was from the West, s.and have no time for reading mere notions. We papers along with almighty strong stuff of another sort, but darn your books.o
 Here the general, who appeared to grow quite faint at the bare thought of reading any thing which was neither mercantile nor po- litical, and was not in a newspaper, inquired :. If any gentleman would drink some p Most of the company, considering this a very choice and seasonable idea, lounged out one by one to the bar-room in the next block. Thence they probably went to their stores and counting-houses thence to the bar-room again, to talk once more of dollars, and en- large their minds with the perusal and dis cussion of screamers; and thence each man to snore in the bosom of his own family.
 s.Which would seem,o said Martin, pur- suing the current of his own thoughts, '' to be the principal recreation they enjoy in common" With that he fell amusing again on dollars and demagogues, andsbar-rooms de- batting within himself whether busy people of this class were really as busy as they claimed to be, or only had an inaptitude for social and domestic pleasure.
 It was a difficult question to solve; and the mere fact of it's being strongly presented to his mind by all that he had seen and heard, was not encouraging He sat down at the deserted board, and becoming more and more Respondent, as he thought of all the uncertainties and difficulties of his precarious situation, sighed heavily
 Now, there had been at the dinner-table a