The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1854-03-24
INCONVENIENCE OF ANCESTORS.


had fathers; namely, persons whose fathers
appropriated other peoples horses, and were
guilty of crimes for which they were subse.
quently hanged. Weknow people who would
rather see the ghost of the Witch of Endor,
the ghost Of Hamlet's father, the Cock.Lanc
ghost, and, indeed, forty other vcritabe
ghosts, grinnng and grim, than see the ghost
Of their own fathers. A lady of fashion, be-
dizzened in silks, bejeweled 10 her finger
ends, and making vast display of grandeur
at her dinner party, would be terribly horrible
if the appariiion Of her honest father, Il pedlar
in very small way, with his leather pack,
should stalk in, in the midst of their hilarity,
and inquire whether any pins, needles, or
brass buttons were wanted by any Of the
gracious company there assembled.
We once knew n lady of fashionable dis.
tinction, the daughter of cobblcr, who used
to do picayune jobs on the heels and toes of
those in process of dlapidation, who, having
had the luck to marry chap with an empty
head and a full pocket, soon became known
as leader of society. Her nose had 50 deli
cate IN organization, that she vowed she
could smell n mechanic a quarter Of mile off,
This excessive olfactory deicacy would have
been excessively annoying to the lady in
question, had she been ''medium," and had
the spirit of her father appeared frequently
to her, for the old cock, it must be confessed,
had vile smell of leather and wax ends about
him. This lady went into Mysteries one day,
on the appearance of n venerable aunt in her
parlor, while she was doing the elegant to
brace of sweet smelling gentlemen. In spite
Of the dcnials Of the lady as to the relation.
ship between herself and the old woman, the
latter protested that she was u genuine aunt,
the sister of Peter Smkins, cobbler, from
whose loins the splendid lady before her
sprang. The old lady was tumbled out, but
the story got wind, sadly to the discontinue
Of the lady, who, in the height of her passion,
wished that she had never had any relatives,
and that she had come into this earth rs
spontaneously as an unparent mushroom.
A man, however, is what he makes himself
and not what his ancestors make him. There
is nothing more common than to see children
altogether unlike their parents, and who, if it
were not for the atiinities of blood, would
have very few affinitics with those from whom
they sprung. The son of n scamp may turn
out to be u pattern of moral worth, and the
darling boy Of horse thief may feel himself
called on to convert the Thugs Of India TO an
obedience of the dccalogue.
PRACTICE AND PRECEPT.-''That which
thou hast to do, do it with all thy might said
clergyman to his son one morning.
so did this morning. replied Bill, with
IN enthusiastic gleanl in his eye.
'Ali. what was it my darling and the faith
cr's hand ran through his otlsprings curls.
Why, | wollopped Jack Brown till he
yelled like thunder; you should just have
heard him holler dad
Dad looked unhappy, while he explained
that the precept did not imply Il case like that,
and concluded with
'You should not have done that, my child
'Thcn he'd wolIopped me- rctortcd Bill.
Better, cxpOstulated his sire, 'for you to
have fled from the wrath to come
yes argued Bill, by way of cincher:
but Jack can run twice rs fast MS can.
The good man sighed, went to his study,
took up pen, and endcavOrcd to compose
himself and a sermon, rcconciing Practice
with Precept.
ASpLESDID DIAMoSD.-1'hc following par
agraph in regard to a remarkable diamond
found in South America appears in the
money column of the London Times:
"One of the largest diamonds known was
deposited yesterday at the Bank Of England,
by London house, to whom il was cOnsisn-
cd from Rio dc Janeiro. Its weight is 25l
carats, aud its estimated value, according to
the scale, E2sO,OOO. 1t is said to be Of the
finest water, and without flaw, and was
found by negro slave, who received his free
dom AS u reward"
YOUNG AMERIcA-In q recent lecture
President Allen says
sour children show extraordinary prccoci-
ty. The miss drops the bib in the evening |
and dons the bodice in the morning, and the
belle makes but Il single leap from the cradle !
to the cotllion, from pap to polka
The boy, but we have no boys, now, young ,
gentleman is the word, feels insuted II he is |
met in the street and not called Mister. lie /
goes from the baby cap TO the beaver, and IN
a twinkliny from peanuts to politics. lie
finishes his education ut IA, goes into busi-
ness at lS, marries ut 20 and Is bankrupt
at IL"
II is understood that the PRONUNCIATION of
Secretary Marcy's instructions to MIR. Clay,
our Ministerto Peru, with regard to the out
ragcs on American vessels at the Chincha Is
lands, has aroused the representative of the
latter government to the urgency Of the case.
lie has accordingly notified the Secretary |
tha. full damages will at once BE- paid by Pc
ru for the loss and injury sustained by Cap
tain McCcrran, Of the Defiance.
Yous; MAS.-Look hcre-yOu arc ambi-
tious, are you! You want to get up in the
world, do you. well, don't try it by wonder
ing how other people, not half 50 active as
Yourself, have done t-but watch your chan
ces, keep your eyes open, and when you find
a chan sleeping on the road to fame, hustle
him otf into the ditch and so ahead-never
stop-neyer wait-but like perpetual mo.
ton, keep moving.
The London Press ofa late date says
awe can state from the highest authority
not, OF course, friendly to Russia-that the
amount of available Russian troops in the
is, at this moment, propably not
less than 10000 men, in good condition"