The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1852-07-24
OF LEADERS.

midst OF seeming cauloron-and yet we
suppose, for fashions sake, we must
write leader. Here it is Friday; we
have been thinking hard all the morning,
painting for breath and scratching for a
subject, busy as the mother of the feath-
cred brood out in the lot before our win
dow-diving into our heap of exchanges
for the ideas of others, seeing we can
scrape together none of our own-now
watching the children,
"crcepins with slow, unwilling pace to SCHOOL,"
taking note of the funeral-like measure
Of the team-horses, as they drag their
burthen over the scorching sands of the
road-now glancing at the motionless
leaves of the forest trees beyond the linn
its of town, and the listless corn-blades
nearer by, dropping their tapering points,
Upon painted OCEAN ;''~
then again becoming painfully sensible of
the necessity of writing leader, and
again essaying to select subject
Heaven appease the wrath of our read
ers at their disappointment! Here is the
sun within one degree of the meridian.
How his fiery, brassy face pours down
its melting rays! We think of the " AN
cient Mariner " who killed the albatross
and his subsequent sufferings upon the
deck Of his doomed, demon-ridden vessel ::
GAN in hot and copper sky,
The bloodySsun at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the NOON"
Sir John Franklin, King of the North
Pole, deliver us Call this a cold coun-
try do you, we slanderous denizens of the
Middle and Southern States Would we
had half-a-dozen of you up here to-day,
to give you foretaste of what will be
your reward, if you persist in calling this
"hyperborean region" How we would
broil you out on that gridiron of lawn,
which lies just yonder, sloping to the
south! A flock of sheep were up there
this moment, trying to crop the short,
crisped pasturage; hot breath of air
slight but enervating as the sirocco Of
Zahara-carried to our window the otlor
of scorching wool; the sheep are break
for the shade-trees-the old bell-wether
ahead on full lope; his constituency hard
after him, with tails forming gyrations in
the air after the fashion of whip-lashes in
the hands Of expert Jehus. We have
just seen gentleman from New Orleans,
who intended to spend the summer here,
but will start home by the next boat
The sunny side of Poydras street, and the
levy at MONDAY, he says, are far prefer
able to this. Wait day or two, friend.
This does not last long with us. Per-
haps the next thunder shower will send
il all to the place where it belongs until
another July.
But Fashion says we must write a
leader. In this she is as memorable with
our profession, even away up here on the
"outskirts," as among the bellies of the
city assembly. Confound fashion! We
never were fashionable, and won't, at this
time of life, commence to bow to the man.
dates of the imperious jade. We uonr
write leader that's flat. Were we no
more particular about our leaders than
were the Democracy, when they installed
Frankly Pierce and Nancy King into that
position, we might act differently. But
peoples taste and disposition alter cases,
as well as circumstances.
We have never had very great res
pect for leaders anyhow. We belong to
"a race that was never conquered or led
the Ceits OF ancient Britain. The Romans.
the Saxons, the Danes, the Normans could
not do it; but in their several periods of
conquest and domination over the inhabi-
tants of other parts of the island, were
always glad, in the end, to make terms
with the hardy mountaineers of the coun-
try, between Holyhead and the mouth
OF the Severn. We belong to political
party that acknowledges no leaders, save
those chosen by the free, spontaneous
will Of our people. We (our party)
don't allow few hungry photographers
and place-hunters to set up at Baltimore
for us King Log, or King Stork, or King
of Alabama, as leader. If, once in four
years, we must have political leader
and the very nature of our institutions
demand that we must-we let the people
select him. And the people will always
be sure to nit upon one competent. For in
stance, in the present case, man who had
led their serried columns through the dark
labyrinths of Lundy's Lane. on tho os,L