The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1857-03-11

I
We are indebted to friend, says Ehe Patr1
OF and Mountaineer, Of Greenville, 3. G., 70
the following original anecdotes Of a slave
which we think are too good to beIost. II
had just bought himself a new hat. "A shoH
err Of rain came up, and he pulled oft bis ha
and put it under his arm. to protect it from tn
rain. A gentleman meeting him, inquired
why he did not wear his hat on his head. Eli
philosophical reply was:
"De-head belong to massa, but de hat be
long to niggerl !.
On another occasion, he bargalned with h.
master for his freedom, and paid three hundred
dollars in cash towards the purchase. Ths
next day, he and negro companion went on
on fishing excursion. The companion fel
overheard and was drowned. Immediately
the freed man went to his former owner and
begged to rescind the contrac. about the pur-
chase Of his freedom. His master inquired
why he had changed his mind SO suddenly
He replied that be had come to the conclusion,
since the fishing excursion, that 'nigger prop
erty was too unsar.ain" to make investments
in it. II he had been drowned, instead Of his
companion, his money would have been lost.
The historian Xenophon relates that When
Cyrus had taken captive prince of Armenia,
together with his young and beautiful wife, OF
whom he was remarkably fond, they were
brought before the tribunal of Cyrus to receive
their sentence. The warrior inquired of the
prince what he would give TO be reinstated in
his kingdom He replied that he valued bis
crown and his liberty at very low rate, but
that if the noble conqueror would restore his
beloved wife to her former dignity and posses
sions, he would willingly pay his life for the
purchase. The prisoners were dismissed to
enjoy their freedom and former honcrs, and
each were lavish in praise of the conqueror.
''And you" said the prince, addressing his
wife, "what think you of Cyrus?"
Il did not observe him." she replied,
"Not observed exclaimed her husband
chow could this be?' 49,
my attention. she replied, twas fixed on
that dear and generous man who declared his
readiness to purchase my liberty at the ex
pense of his life"
Henri Con'icense, the great Belgian writer,
says that whenever new master mason was to
be elected, 1t wassnecessary that, previously to
being initiated into his somewhat important
position, he should prove himself worthy of the
dignity about to be conferred on him by pull
ing down and rebuilding with bis own hands,
the facade of one portion of the building, W hch
has consequently been regretted innunerable
times, though the remainder of the edfce is
sufficiently venerable. II the candidate shrank
from the trial. there was no alternative but to j
give up his claim.
In Egypt, once young gentleman got
vixen for wife, and carried her homa, when 4
the old folks turned upon him. He asked the 4
kadee of the village what he should do, who /
advised him to watch his chance when the old |
ones were out Of the way, take stick as big as
his two fingers, and beat her well The bride |
groom did as he was advised, and having near
ly committed murder, was acknowledged as
lord paramount, and when the parents came .
back they found their daughter humble as
dove, with one eye beaming love and the other
bound up with rag.
The great majority of mankind do not and
cannot see one fraction of what they were in
ended to see. The proverb that 'none are so
blind as those that will not see'' is as true of
physical as of moral vision. By neglect and
;arelessness We have made ourselves unable to
discern hundreds of things which are before us
% be seen. Thomas Carlyle has summed this
up IN one pregnant sentence. "The eye sees
what it brings the power to see." How trueis
his! The sailor on the look out can see a ship
where the landsman sees nothing; the Esoui-
naux can distinguish a white fox amidst the
white snow; the American backwoodsman
will FIRE rifle ball so as to strike nut out of
he mouth of a squirrel without hurting it; the
ted Indian boys hold their hands up as marks
o each other, certain that the unerring arrow
viii be shot between the spread out fingers;
he astronomer can see star in the sky, where
o others the blue expanse is unbroken: the
hepherd can distinguish the face Of every
heep in his flock; the mosaic worker can de-
ect distinctions of color where others see zone:
md multitudes Of additional examples might
,e given Of what education does for the eve.
AGRIouLrURIsT.--Nom man is so high As to
De independent of the success of this great in
crest; no man is so low as not 70 be affected bvI
is prosperity or decline. Agriculture feeds us;
0 great degree it clothes us; without It we
ould not have manufactures, and we should
lot have commerce. These all stand torelher.
'ut they stand together like pillars in elus-
er, the largest in the middle-and that la!rest
5 agriculture. We live in country Of tilled
arms and freehold tenements; country in
which men cultivate with their own hands .heir
wn fee simple acres, drawing not only their
ubsistence, but also their spirit of independ-
nee and manly freedom, from the ground1hev
dough. They are at once its owners, tslcul-
yators, and its defenders The cultivation of
he earth is the most important labor Of man.
dan may be civilized, in some degree, with
nut great progress in manufactures, and with
title commerce with his distant neighbors, but
sithout cultivation of the earth, he is, IA all
ountries, a savage. Until he gives up the
base and fixes himself to some place and
eeks living from the EARTH he is roaming
arbarian. When tillage begins, other arts
blow. The farmers, therefore, are the foun-
ers of human civilization I'd. Webster.
A yankee proposes to build an establish
lent which may drive sheep in at one end.
nd have it come out at the other as four quar-
rs OF mutton, a fine hat, a pair Of drawers, a
'ather apron, and quarto dictionary.
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.
- THIs Institute, situated two miles from