Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-04-02
THE GAZETTE.
FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL Q, 1858.
MILITIA MUSTERS.


The old system of militia mastering is t.
be restored ssaio, in all its glory. Well, we
are glad of IL, with all our hearts. 1t is one
of the ancient institutions of the country, in
which we always specially delighted. 1t is
70 US, like an OLD oak, that we have known
from childhood. nr the cold bucket that hangs
in the we'll" or the old school house, in
which we we're taught, or the familiar face
of an old friend. Our heart bled when it
was done away with, and we rejoice 10 it's
restoratiu Tn re 10 something venerable
even in it. ahsurdiues. Well do we remem-
Der the day when We thought captain Of
militia the greatest and bappiest man on the
face Of the earth. There was something sub
lime in his cooked hat and crooked sword,
which we envied above the state OF princes.
His martial step, when teaching bis SQUAD 70
mark time, which was something between
the waddle of full grown gander, and the
dance of a half broken colt, was to us the
very poetry of motion. His cooked hat was
to us more full OF significance, than the little
three-corner Of the mighty CorsicaD, and his
blue uniform with broad, silver looking but
tons. was, in our eyes, more respectable than
the little gray coat, which, Chateaubriand
said, if hung up in any corner of Europe,
would frigbteu all Legitimacy" from it's
propriety. Next to this mighty potentate.
whose word was law to the whole muster
ground, were the drummer and ffer. Such
putting and humping as then made hideous
the garish face of the day, we are fearful we
shall not hear again. Alas! the times are
changed, the men are dead, and they have
left none to represent them. Their very
tunes have persisted with them--those tunes
that we're wont to rouse the spirit of the mi
litia, as the sound Of the gong is said to rouse
the ire of the lion. There were Captain
Fortunes March," and "Ob! the death of
nv poor children" and "l'll set by the fire
and smoke my cigar" and "Come brave
boys, don't be afraid" and hundred others,
all gone down 70 the tomb OF the Cspulets
Alas! and alas! how soon passeth the fashion
of this world! We may parody Coleridge
and say Of the officers aud their musicians:
"Their drums are dust, their swords are rust,
Their souls are with the saints, we trust
The drummer and the ffer of the company
formed class by themselves. We do not
know that Jenny Lind or ParOdi would
have selected them to play at their con-
certs--indeed we are rather disposed to
think they would not-but there can be little
doubt that they felt themselves far more
deeply imbued with the spirit Of music than
either of them. And the boys thought 30
too. How they would crowd around them to
catch every note of the inspiring strain, as
they stepped of to the sound OF their own
music, and the whole muster-ground follow
Sol ~ 40
for putting down their feet and lifting them
up simultaneously" 0s former Governor
one said, they never dreamed OF such thing;
and perhaps it was we'll that they never did,
for il was clearly an achievement beyond
their reach. Their march resembledr in
sound, nothing 90 much as the rappiug with
canes, in the theatre, when fayorite actor
makes bis appearance.
The officers, honest men, always contrived
to remember that "sll work and no play,
makes Jack dull boy" and they were gen.
orally determined not to be accessory to such
O cruel catastrophe. So after due degree
of exercise, they adjourned to liquor, and
then the fun commenced. Every man had
bis steed, and every mans steed was soon
converted, by the magic of an extra horn or
two, into racer, unrivalled since the days OF
Florizel and Snap Dragon. We do not know
that they often brought forward actual four
milers, but every man had quarter nag
that was, to use his own phrase, "hard to
beat" Then there was "such row, such a
rumpass and rioting" as can nowhere be
seen in these degenerate days. Bets ran
high-ten dollars were freely bet on side
and eel skins changed proprietors, as the
figures of Signor BIitz shift their position
At last of they went harry and SkWrry-
amidst the shouts of the " hole course. Alas!
that they had no Pindar to celebrate their
own triumphs, and those of their horses
There was no Lager beer in those days; but
the juniors made it up !n.cakes and another
sort of beer, the constituent parts OF which
have always been mystery, which like the
authorship If Junius, we fear will never be
unraveled IN cur day.
SeriUuslg, we CONGRATULATE the country on
the return TO the militia system. 1t secures
an c.-en;zptiCn by Regiments and BrIgades,
and ever man will know where be belongs.
A. for drilling we do Lot expect much OF
that; but it vii! be much easier to drill the
militia, when they are wanted, under the re-
stored system, than under none OF ALL
II eli. Whig.
OTICE.-The subscriber, having purchas-
ed If A. L. Gregory his entire Stock ct
Goods and interest in the STOVE and TIN BUSl-
NESS, is prepared to execute, with promptness,
Ill ordsrs for Plain and Japanned TIN WARE,