Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-21
DIsCURsIVE AND SPECULATIVE
A Famous Receipt, with a story At
tached.

is yoar doxy! That's all.
Heretofore have given the mere froth
Of the seething caldrOn Of an Artists
"reminiscences, but the signs of the times
invite both pen ard pencil to graver work.
JOUffrOy, the eminent French mOralist,
with whom 1 have had conversations,
doubtless amusing to him as conveying
the Ideas Of a green youth, chOck full of
the doctrines Of Bunyan's ''Pilgrim's Pro-
gress." of the ''Federalist," OF the
Declaration of Independence" and Of
the Fathers Of the ChOrch, +" and certainly
valuable and instructive to me, as giving
an Insight into how the greatest minds
must wander IN the dark mountains of
doubt, if they once quit the straight path
OF Revelation. JOuffrOy says that human
history is a drama of which we know
neither the prologue nor the catastrophe.
/. believing that God could not have left
His intelligent creatures without a GER
tam guide TO a knowledge of Him-His
designs and His will-argUed that they
We're 10 be found in the Hebrew Bible,
which gave the prologue in Genesis and
the catastrophe in Revelation, and that
these properly interpreted would lead us
20 broader view Of religious, scientific
and political matters than could be
otherwise arrived at. But, that il
the record was true, II must be supported
by other evidence TO receive the accept
anCe of beings gifted with reason, and
that evidence, | thOught, should be locke
for i'm the ''stOne book" OF the earth and
the '.star book Of the heavens. But on
the tempt to read these l found that till
the invention Of spectrum analysis. Lord
Ross telescope seemed 10 discourage the
idea of the origin of the universe from
cloud matter-a superstition necessary 10
al
its infancy in the year 1888.
A proof Of this is, that on my first
attendance on the discussions Of the Geo
logical Society of France, the contest was
between Ellie de Beaumont, the champion
of the .'kUlcanIc Theory" ami Constant
PreyOt. the supporter of the ''Neptunian"
view OF the worlds origin. While on mn
right sac LBelt, then scarcely known To
science, lntelligently listening and mean
ingly smiling at the vehemence and argR-
ments OF the Frencbmen, whose opposite
views he afterward TecOnciled in his own
geological writings.
JOuffrOY spoke English about as badly
as [ did French, but each understood the
language of the other sufficiently to con-
verse fiuently in the two, with an Occa-
siOnal instructive and amusing eXplana-
ton Of idiOmatic phrases. To his remark
about prologue and catastrophe of human
history l quoted as well as | could from
memory Shakspeare's S'All the worlds
stage and all the men and women play
ers," but have since learned that it may
be more ntly compared to the witches
caldrCn in Macbeth, in which seye of
newt" (narrOwness OF view, 'itOngue
of dog teachings of demagOgue and
fanatic ladders fork" (envy, hatred,
malice AID all Observation-Disclosures "and
blind worms sting" scandal, lying and
backbiting) are mingled for the cOncOc-
ton OF bell broth, palatable only to the
damned, but from which the Divine
aIchemist has extracted an upper layer
OF wholesome food for the mind, |
consolation for the heart, and hope for |
the soul Of one who belle es that
J.,r..-., "~ovidence that shapes cur ends, /
Rough new them as VIC Gay"
And moreover on the surface OF this
even lie has allowed to rise frOth. light
and UnsubstantiaI II IS true, but pleasant
or bitter to him that tastes it, according
70 the use he makes of it, and the faith in
which be receives it.
Up 10 this time l have given only lit
tie Of this frOth that rises on my memory
as / look back TO the experiences OF an
obscure life. to the traditions of my elders
and the cOnfessiOns.Of private motives and
actions, which the public have never
heard, and would not have accepted
as true il listened to, and which if unfold
ed now by me would not be accepted as
other than the products of vivid imagi-
nation, which would shake the faith of
the young in human perfectibIlity a faith
necessary TO 2 striving after good }, and
confirm the old in the opinion held by
many. that this earth is tle masterpiece
of the devil, view which l am very far
from taking, even to an acceptance of the
MOnbOddian theory, revived by Darwin
in the idea that we come from tadpOles,
through ''pTOgenitOrS OF arbOreal habits"
even Monkeys
Now men, good Catholics and Protest
ants, honest Democrats, Republicans or
equally honest Republican Consolidation
lists, would not tolerate for one moment
any attempt to prove that true religion
OF political wisdom lies between the two,
and still less would they bear the demo-
htiOn of their demi-gOds, by an icOhoclas-
tic exposure Oftheir unwOfthlness, There
lore I shall not 90 ON VIII my account of
duels, for this reason: the only one left
Of those Of which L have heard from sur
ViVOrs or witnesses, involves this COnse-
quence. 1t shows Gen. Andrew jackson
as faithlesS. explains why Henry Clay
supported John Q. Adams in preference
to him for the Presidency, how this led to
John RandOlph's comparing the cO-Ope- /
ration OF the two to one of blackleg
and puritan and this to, the
blOOdless duel between them-hOW my
father and Mr.. Clay became intimate, and
the latter to infer that they came from the
same original stock, dating back to one
generation beyond the settlement of
GeOrgia-how this intimacy led to an ex-
pOsure of the profound craftsmanship
which induced him to support the
american SYSTEM and the admission
of slavery into Texas" and of the knOWl-
edge of human character which made
him fOTesec the utteTance of the ''doc-
1rine OF to the victor belongs the spOilS,D
and the infallible consequences OF the
same IN me corruption o. pontica- I'm I'm :
public morals, which we now recognize:
how the election of Gen. jackson was
looked to by New England kederalists as
the OnIv means of Overturning the control ,
Of the JeffersOnian Democratic RepupiI-s
canism in the government by "rJnning /
Democracy into the ground. through the /
ultrsism of a despOtIc military leader, /
etc, till in following it up / would have /
10 90 back to the influence of the Ameri- |
can revolution on the politics OF Europe /
the attempts TO destroy It through the use !
of priest and puritan by the mon |
arches and OligaTcEies OF the Old World, /
and 10 touch upon various other things,
all of which would lead my readers to
think that l was seeking to turn the world
ofthOught upside down, and TO be silenced.
not by lynch law, but upon the African
receipt for the Quieting OF squall-
ing babies. but what that IS. VIII tel
sou 10 the end, that grateful fathers, VINO
love peace and quiet in their bed cham
bers, and doctors OflRw and Ofphysic, aye,
even some doctors of theology, who ad-
vOcate the truth of the evolution theory,
and mothers who resort to Dalby's car
minatiye aud paregOric to quiet their
restless babies may unite to shield me
from the assault of the ignorant mass, op-
posed to what they cannot understand,
and estimating pictures by the cost of
the frames in which they are inclOsed.
The receipt and the way got it is this:
''C3= ar-nOt the famous ROman-but a
negro slave, who was brought from
Africa in his advanced bOyhOOd, and
found in the estate of Mr.. Daniel Blake
with his fellow cOuntryman, POmpey, in
his old age, one day, after he became
mine in person and affections, was
experimenting the boiling Of caldrOn Of
garden vegetables for the feeding Of cows
and pigs. when a pretty young darkey,
nurse to one Of my babies, with the child
in hersarms, came to overlook the work.
1t was a jUstifabIe curiosity, but drew
such an expression into the old mans
rather OurangO-utangish face, that i said:
sold man. what are you thinking abouts'
hat I F-s-