Columbia gazette., 1854-03-25

| cIaHucilcrS uaZZle VIII tnclr DrlSutueSs
and mirrors Of costly gliding and pol
ished surface reflect o'er and o'er again
the brilliant scene of beauty. The floors
re-echo the light footsteps of the thou
sand guests from their marbled surface,
and music joins its charms and blends
its harmony to heighten enjoyment for
the honored of the land, and the rep
resentatives of Gods first best gift to
man-roman,-are pre-eminent among
their sex for beauty and for every grace
of intellect which elevatcs them in re-
finemcnt so far above mankind. Togeth-
er, these things present scene of magic
and dazzling beauty, vieing with and ri
valing the fabled tales of oriental mag
nifccnce; and when we observe the
assembled guests seating themselves up
on satin and damask, and rosewood and
gliding combined in their happiest forms;
and while we perceive before each guest
a plate of massive and valuable material;
we shall also observe that there rests
upon its chaste surface,-not dclicacies
and luxuries from other climes to please
Or tempt the appetite, e,-but in striking
contrast to all around, and looking more
uncouth amid such splendor, we shall
see upon each plate and placed before
each guest few humble kcrnals of that
common but most useful grain raised by
our New England farmers, and bearing
the humble appcllation of Indian corn.
Strange, that in such scene, i'll such
a place aud surrounded by such luxuri-
GUS plenty and such splendor, and while
all the bounties Of earth's choicest gifts
wait around-there should be provided
for each guest few kernals of hard In
dian corn-how homely--how little of
sentiment Or fashion hcre-but these
hare their meansns-these speak in tones
Of might and power to those sons and
daughters of New England's cline, and
remind them of the daring energy, the
lnhexiblc perseverance, amid suffering
and starvation, of those, who, in cxtremi-
ty of hunger, while redecming wilder
ness continent divided out to each in
their extremity their last remaining care
fully couatcd grains of Indian corn, to
satisfy the gnawing and craving demands
of hunger and starvation. And New
England's children do well to contrast
by these simple cmblcms-the suff;erings
of those whose energies were indomita-
BILE, with the luxurics and enjoyment
which mark their festive board, which
together with the purchase of liberty,
were the fruits of the first development
Of Energy in American character.
These guests then, SO richly adorned,
assembled in such a gorgeous scene,-
which combines all that art can wrest
from nature, to nature joined,-these
guests so refined and courtly but withal
SO manly and Independent, are the de-
scendants of New England's hardy sons
who pionecrd the way, and laid the foun-
dation for new epoch in the annals of
freedom; these are guests by the daring
of whose ancestry upon the borders of a
new and unknown world, and while SUBJ
sisting upon such meagre and scanted
food, hardly sustained life, and contend
ing not only with wild, barren, and rude
nature, and forcing a scanty subsistence
from her almost sterile bosom, also, un-
der such circumstances, contended alone
and single handed with the treacherous
foe of the forest, upon the borders of a
painless wilderness-amid these, and ten
thousand other emergencies of like
nature, developed that energy, which
amid the shock Of warning tempest, and
savage onsets, planted deep and wide
not only the principles Of American en-
ergy of character, but also the roots oi
the great tree of Liberty.
We might with propriety here pause
and dwell upon this great development
of energy, which conquered an unex.
plorcd wilderness world, which bravea
the tempest and withstood the storm