The American patriot., 1855-08-18
Fifty-Five.

Years have passed and centuries rolled into
eternity. The Antedeluvian race has expired.
The tale Of the Israeltes wondering through
the wilderness has become hackneyed story
many of the deeds Of our torefathers have
graced and ever win grace thepages Of history,
but these sink into utter insignifcance when
compared to the events of fifty-five. Na
Fifty-five will ever be distinguished for its
dustiity, foolabilty and want Of ability And
well do know, were Washington, Demosthe-
mes, Bonaparte, Hercules and all the other
great Statesmen of antiquity alive, they would
find many Yankee blade" or Southern
prodigy, like me for instance, that would cast
them so far in the shade that they would form
resolution never to sit in the Presidential
chair, or what is equivalent to the same thing,
| never again to enter ball room. +'a"
My dear friends, do you not think that we
should be thankful that we are permitted to
live in this progressive age, anage when we are
gentlemen at fifteen and Qadics at thirteen y
But oh! how few, how Gerry few can appreci-
ate these blessings
doubt the progressiveness of this age, let us
take glance backwards. with our eyes shut
our intellectual eyes mean, that is, if we
have any which fear is very doubtful with
most of us, and then ask ourselves what we see
and we will hear resounded from the sunny
cline of the Frigid zones to the cold Torrd-
from the Atlantic to the straits of Abysina
and from the Indian ocean to the Bay of Bis
cay, toolcry and fashion are all the go.
1t is not much to be regretted that Mathusa.
lah was SO soon snatched away by deaths cru
cl hand. Oh! could he have been permitted
to live few more centuries, or even to this
memorable fifty-fvc. But oh !! in the midst
of life we are in death. Time, whose head is
becoming hoary with the frost of many sum-
mcrs, occasionally looks back upon the days
Of his youth, and clearly perceive a striking
difference between the past and the present.
Look back but few years and We find those
who have spent their lives at the shrine of
Urania, sacrificing their happiness, and nearly
themselves but these arc not confined to An
cient history alone; in modern times we find
those who have spent their lives in scientific
investigation, seeking perhaps to discern the
change from day 10 night, or the distance
around the world, which, when known, did
not make them close their eyes sooner Or open
them earlier. .o.t
But gentleman Of iifty.fvc would just as
soon be caught paying his taylor bill or some
other little honest debt, as trying to discover
why bodies fall upwards instead of downwards
or the reason why the earth rcvolvcs around
the moon. sF
Now if it was to find out why bodies .t1W in
1ore, he might well take the trouble and pains
to break open the iron door of the most COM
plicatcd thought, and then plunging into the
darkest cells soon discover The hidden truth,
for this is u subject worthy the attention OF
the poetical, or using more appropriate term
Rhemctical Emil of "fifty-fve," much less the
Philosophical and Novel writer's. .~l'a.'-
Should the renowned athcr of our country
be regenerated, suppose you he would have
the presumption to undertake to fill the Presi-
dental chair, or think you not the brilliancy
of its late occupant would be sufficient to awe
him into some obscure retreat? z'"
| Should this the Athens of Louisiana be WIS.,
tied by the father of Grccian eloquencc would
he not be overwhelmed, after listening to the
brillian' efforts of the interesting and talented
youths Of our own aspiring Southern mstt,-
tons? Who Fanny Fern would class under
the genius Know Nothing, or Do-Nothing,
Gt is rather difficult to decide which,) but ]
am confident that it is not Say-Nothing.
will have to refer you to Washington Irving's
catalogue of the Fixed Stars for further infor.
nation.
Let us awhile draw an impartial comparison
and sec that Denosthcncs' cloquencc can be
considered in comparison, but as a substance
is to the fhadow. The treat characteristic
which divides them Is that he coLld take uI
almost notliag and make something Of it Z; but
with them it is quite the revcrse-they take
up something aud make nothing of it, and still
not weaken their great ntcllects, they remint
me forcibly of the man that said "There'
twice I've cut it and it is too short still.
In conclusion will propose an axiom t.
you and the question is-why it is that while
our grand-mothers professed too much modes
ty to speak unless spoken too-the ladies o
"fifly-five" amuse large audiences with thei
crow-like voices in reading their own or some