New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-11-28
II FOREST PHILOSOPHER.


In his Fables, Gay tells us of peasant phi
losopher who drew wisdom from all the rural OBJ
jects about him; from his dog Tray, fidelity
from his bees, industry; and SO on 1t is easy
to imagine the like: but such sages are rare, i
we may believe our own individual experience
Byron. too, has fancied something of the sort il
Daniel Boone, whom he calls a man of Ros:
run Wild" and makes into moralist in mecca
sins and q hunting shirt, framing very pure
and gentle system of Ethics, while he was hunt
ing bears and scalping Indians. Campbell, too,
at whose blunders of palm-trees in Pennsylva-
| MIA and tigers on Lake Erie, the same noble
poet laughs (sensibly enough has his Outalissi
ga stole of the woods :" but we have not, here
tofore, much believed in red skinned, any more
than in rustic or frontier philosophy Here,
however, we have fallen on them all at once, in
the person of an old Indian, who has taken il
into his head to enlighten the Pale Faces, by
delivering his notions of :" matters and things
practical md speculative, in series of papers,
for frontier journal (the Arkansas Indepen-
dent) which is published somewhere not far from
his hunting grounds.
He sets out by instructing folks in that Of
which he probably knew the least--namely, Ru-
raj Economy. This is quite common inclina-
ton among the featherless bipeds an ignorant
man has no sooner learnt something of matters
which before he never dreamt of, than he must
forthwith set up to teach every body else. So
our learned Theban," or we might better say,
our gymnosophist (for that sect, we believe went
nakeD discourses not very profoundly about
farming. We fear he never took The Cultivator,
the American Farmer, nor any other of that
wide progeny of Agricultural Journals, of which
dear, pleasant, cordial, good, sensible John
Skinner (alas that he should be gone y was the
worthy and benifcent father Thus our sachem
is rather superAuous, when he tells white hus-
bandmen to pillow their ground in the spring ::
for had they not better fallow it, in the Fall, if
they can or when he bids them plant yellow
corn for may they not want hominy pot. In
short, we don't think he is quite varro, nor
even Loudon.
The following piece of wisdom, too, smacks
more of the Pennsylvania Dutchman (that agri-
cultural " minion of the moon y than of the sci
entific SOW gelder; "You should spay your young
sows about the middle of April and the middle
of September, if the moon is right" Nor do we
admire the ensuing preeept for getting rid of
ticks; " In the last of February you ought to
set fire to the woods and burn up the ticks, and
let the new grass come
But it is when he comes to matters of morals
that all the homely force of the philosopher of
Nature breaks out. For example: I" You must
not let your boys 60 in the creek too much in
the summer, and the boys should not spend too
much time in sparkling the girls l have knowed
no good to come several times by boys counting
the girls The sutjoined, again, is acute
enough for any white man SO You ought to get
a public road to run by your house, and as soon
as it is cut out, you ought to take it in your
clearing, and make them open a new road You
can get some cleared land by it" OF like
sagacity is the following: 'You ought to make
your children stand in the door and look out Mt
people as they pass Every farmer ought to
have great many children. | have got sixty
seven grand children" A nice family circle
he must have in his wigwam; and a handsome
appearance must they make while kept stand
ing in his door.
Presently, however, he relapses into matters
Of tillage, AMI ceases to shine For instance.
his objections to mules and manure are hardly
solid; and as to segars, it may be doubted
whether he ever had the happiness of lighting
good one. He says of all these Sc Mules
Kick. 1t is best to have no mules on the farm
rood tobacco is very pleasant, in fact, have
ried it for near about sixty years A pipe is
inc. Segars have got no strength in them.
GU ought not to stay long on one place When
he land begins to wear out little you ought
0 move to a new place. 1t will never do to
ianure. 1t is a heap less trouble to settle n
ew place"
What ensues, at the close of his first paper,
rings within very small compass a great body
truths, political, moral, and economical:
Always vote for the man you like best, and do
OF ride scarey horses. There be great many
lings you should have nothing to do with
he world is got to be very wicked. Reflect on
y advice. have seen much of the world,
nd great many people. know great many
eople Keep large fires in winter" We don't
lactly perceive strict connection Of topics
'erywhere here; but in the highly sententious
yle, thing will sometimes look little helter-
,elter Perhaps the counsel about large fires
not just the things for warm climates nor for
e great prairies But no matter the Great
pirit does not deal out sense unadulterated
en to his copper colored children.
GARRISON THE ABoLIrIoNIsT.-This worthy