Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1860-11-21
MISCELLANEOUS READING.
THE WEATHER.

When Owen Glendower wished to impress
Hotspur with an idea of his Importance, he
told him that the earth qusked when he was
born. very probable" replied the matter
of-fact, plain spoken Northumbrian-"Very
probable, and 30 it would have done had
your mothers cat produced litter of kit
tens" The heavens, if they have any SYM
pathy with the troubles of man, certainly
are not wont to manifest it by any outward
and visible sign. The sun shines as brightly
upon the overthrow of an Empire, as upon
the birth of State-upon the coronation Of a
tyrant, as upon the Inauguration of a patri
OTIS statue. There never was more charming
weather than there is now when the Repub-
tic seems rocking to its foundation, and all
theworld, outside Of America, is writbiDg in
the agonies of political convulsion. The In
dian Summer, that most delightful of all
the American seasons-and nowhere, we
have been told, are there more delightful
seasons than in Americas more brilliant
this year, and more enduring, than it was
ever known to be before. AS the country
grows older one of the features of this sea-
son-that by which it was peculiarly distin-
guished in the olden time-becomes gradu-
ally modified, and will probably disappear
altogether in the course of time. We allude
to the hazy, smoky condition of the atmos-
phere, which we recollect to have seen SO in
tense as to make the eyes sore. There is now
scarcely anything left of the phenomenon. 1t
is all neutrality-suspicious. sunshine, so palpa-
BILE that You may almost touch it, so thick
that you may almost battle in it, SO unearth-
ly that it seems to transfgure those who stand
in it. For ourselves, we confess the old, dir
gy, Indian Summer, with its dark stmos-
phere, and its sunbeams forcing its way
through the cloud, until they fell on earth like
the rays of the sun after passing through q
window of stained glass, pleased US much
better There was always to us charm in
the soft, dreamy, Indian Summer of the old
en- time, that we could never explain, nor
can we even now understand it. 1t had
tendency to promote melancholy, but melen-
choly Of nature SO gentle that it was ex-
quisitely luxurious. It seemed to call up the
memory of something in the long, long past,
which We could not distinctly understand,
yet which We eagerly desired to grasp, as
though it were the connecting link between
our present being and some previous exist
ence, of which all traces had not been entire
ly exiting guished. But now since nature has
raised the misty veil from the face of the
Queen of the Seasons, we live, achile she lives,
in en- ocean of unclouded light.
We have not lately been in the country;
but we suppose the leaves are yet on the.
trees, presenting that rich variety of colors,
the union of which invests our forests during
the present season with gorgeous magnifi-
cence Of beauty altogether inconceivable to
those who have never seen it. Russet, carna-
tion yellow, orange, gold, all these tints blend
into one picture of indescribsble beauty, as
cunningly as though arranged by the hand
of scme skilful painter, expressly with q
view to avoid all violent contrasts. And, IN
truth, there is no painter like nature.
1t is now the season for field sports, and
We presume sportsmen are taking the field in
all directions. Some four years ago, an ap-
prehension existed that the breed of partrid-
ges had been entirely exterminated by the
hard winters. Appeals were frequently made
to sportsmen, through the public prints, to
abstain from pursuing their game until the
remnants, if there were any, should have
time to rally and recruit. Either those ap-
peals proved very successful, or the birds have
defed the skill of the sportsman, or the winters
have been very propitious, or all this taken
together has come to pass; for We learn that
there never were so many birds as there are
now. We hope the sportsmen will be moder-
ate-shoot not for glory, butrecreation-kill
no more than they can eat each day-and
carefully abstain from shooting birds on the
ground. This last is an offence which ought
to be made penal. A sportsmen who would
do it ought to have his gun taken from him,
:.l,I +Lo oo1j hoI
hacked off and his sword taken from him,
for any offence against the laws of chivalry.
1t ought to be n point of honor with sports
men to give the bird q chance for his life.
They ought to call a convention of all the
sportsmen in the State Of Virginia, to estab
lish rules for their sport.
We are fast coming to that period of life
when it is more agreeable to talk about sport =.
ing than to practice it. We recall with in
finite pleasure recollections of old sportsmen
and their deeds. The present generation
may beat them for aught we know-they
have better guns and better equipments-yet
the obstinacy of age is very strong upon US,
and we find it as hard to believe that any of
the present generation could beat Charles
Taylor, Littlebury Mosby, John Syme, John
Heth, Beverley Heth, Merriwether Vaughan
and Miles Selden, when they were in their
prime, land, alas! but one of them, Mr.. Selden,
is now alive, as we do to believe that any of
the horses whose fame now fills the racing
journals, are superior to Eclipse and Henry, or
Flrtilla and Ariel. We mention the gentle
men above-named, because they were all
genuine sportsmen-men who did honor to
the craft-men who would as soon think of
stealing sheep or robbing hen-roost, az
Of shooting into covey on the ground. They
were models of sportsmen, every one. we
hope their successors may be even as they
were.- Richmond Despatch
mss- FRIENDSHIP FAIR.-The Committee
respectfully announce that the FAIR for the ben
eft of the FRIENDSHIP FIRE COMPANY, will oom-
,nence ON MONDAY EVENING, November
26th. at SAREPTA HALL.
( large lot of USEFUL and FANCY ARTI-
Giles will be- offered, and OYSTERS, GAME,
and other delicacies in the eating line, served
every evening.