The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-02-27

| InoCDe8oReoko kenhuhulh-
The:teverence in which this old region
is held by those who have wandered
from it is e1empli6ed by a late remark
Of VIM. II. Hooper, Delegate in Con-
gress from Utah, and q Mormon,
though not polygamist. He was de-
scribing the virtues Of Eastern Shore
cooking, when one said: @a8
Captain Hooper, when were You
last on the old peninsula p
"Never, madame, since / left it thirty
five years ago."
why, sir, from your frequent men
ton of the place, l should think you
would want to SKIP over there at least
once every session of Congress.
Never, madame! / never wish to
see it again; for l might be disaP-
pointed. always want to remember
it as it appeared to me last in the days
OF my youth; the most beautiful spot
under the eyes of Providence"
Similar testimony was that of John
Gusts, tather.in-law by her first mar
riage of Mrs. George Washington.
The Gusts family bad descended, IN
America, from John Gusts, dol
lander in name and origin, who received
the appointment Of Collector OF Gus
toms on the Eastern Shore of Virginia
in 1887, and whose great estate OF Ar
lington there, and relative fortune IN
money, attested either the Eastern Shore
at that time, or the antiquity OF the
Collector of the Customs as we know
him, Royal officer to this day. The
estate OF Arlington, near Washington
City, perpetuates the name Of the elder
manor oil the Gusts family near Cape
Charles, and it is authentic history that
the son Of the Collector married the
daughter Of Daniel Parke, who carried
the dispatches of Marlborough to Queen
Anne, announcing the victory OF Blen-
helm. This second Gusts, living I'M
happily with his wife, lett this tribute
to the Eastern Shore on his tombstone;
Under this marble tomb lies the
body of the Hon. John Gusts, Esq, OF
the city OF Williamsburg and parish OF
Burton, formerly OF Hungars parish, on
the eastern shore of Virginia and
county OF Northampton, aged seventy
one years, and yet lived but ssren years,
which was the space Of time he kept
bachelors home al arlington, on the east
srn shore Of Virginia"
These attestations, however, revive
the widely known anecdote invented by
Hon. Tom Corwin, who used to tell it
on the stump" A very old man,
with long jaws and high cheek bones,
came once upon time TO the witness
box of an Ohio court.
What is your age?' asked Corwin.
"Twentv-two.."
you probably mistake the question.
The years Of your lite-l wish to know
the number Of them
TWENTY-FIVE"
Have you spent all your life in
OhioY
"Oh no! Ibid live forty years on the
Eastern Sho' of Maryland. but l hope
the Lord amt counted them agin me.
The queer phrases and pronunciation
OF this region are Of habit, and no
longer Of ignorance.
Il do'no but" is a mild form Of affir.
nation. "A DANCED sight good deal is
an ambiguous estimate OF quantity.
Wont mung We come to sec me-" is a
somewhat querulous renewal Of an
invitation. What for sort OF man
is hardly indigenous, but sounds sus-
picously like "Fideify' or "Baltmer
business talk. Who can define an ill.
commenced day' except upon the theory
of natural volubility unrelieved by
dictionary? IAN else is transpostion
OF unless. Right smart" is OF univer-
sal currency; it applies to a man Of
sagacty, quantity, and to distance;
occasionally the word "peart' takes the
place of smart, to signify animation.
"Cieverness" in Delaware means hospi.
tally and good-fellowship solely, never
skill, and it is the next diploma below
the impossible grade OF gentleman
Cousinship is feature Of good family
life on the Peninsula, the remark being
common of 80 and So is my fourth
cousin Extraordinary cases of human
longevity occur here, Notwithstanding
the prevalencv at times OF low tevers :;
but the Eastern Shore is healthier than
the opposite and higher coast. Crime
is rare; society was tranquil during the
war; Northern immigration is welcom-
ed, and observes no prejudice.
1t is to he remarked that from PENN
suated regions OF the Chesapeake,
closely resembling the Eastern Shore
many of our strongest public men have
come; as for example, Washington, the
Lee family, Pinckney and Writ, fancy
and Reverdy johnson; in short, the
whole line Of Virginia statesmen.
William and Mary, and st. Johns Col
leges are pitched in the lowlands OF the
Chesa peake George alfred T0Onseaj,
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