Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1895-02-20
The Georgia Scenes, A Book Ev-
cry Edgefeld Boy Should
ReaN.-."Semphronicus"
Delighted With Its
Quaint and Queer
Ola POdrida. =

Will the reader pardon few
thoughts out of The usual order ut
newspaper correspondence? There
is no pleasantrr task THAI dclving,
in the past and rummaging out
bits of reminiscence; especially,
when it deals with scenes and ac=.
tors in whom we have living in-g
terest.
Such a collection of reminis-::
cences is the Georgia Scenes.
While not purporting to be his.
!ory, tits in fact history in the. he
truest sense of that word. 1t is.as:
truly history Of middle Georgia
as tie Spectator" of Addison. aud
Steele is history Of London life,
in the reigns of Anne aud George
I. I will suggest few thoughts
on this quaint old book.
Middle Georgia is perhaps the
most noted section in the South.
Dear to every Southern heart,
must be the home of that match
less orator Robert Toombs; of
Alec Stephens, the brilliancy of
whose intellect, vastness of learn
ing, and keenness and soundness OF
logic, made him the terror Of enc
mics and the idol Of friends; of
the seraphic Bishop Pierce and the
immortal Grady. There is a pc
culiar interest attached to the
region itself, considering its wide
spread notoriety.
"The Georgia SceDes" is COL
lection of sketches showing the
manners, customs, and character
of the people of Middle Georgia,
written by Judge A. B. Longstreet,
himself man of wide attain
ments, who had been brought up
among just such characters as he
portrayed. Hence the scenes are
picturesque and life-like, being set
forth with the minuteness and
vividness that cau come only from
an eyewitness.
Longstreet was one of the most
gifted men that the South can lay
claim to. Jurist, divine, college
president, and man of letters, hu
won renown enough in any one of
these callings to satisfy the ambi-
:ion of less industrious man. He
was also a man of the keenest
sense of humor and profound
student of human nature.
Each scene is claimed to have
been witnessed by one of two his
toric characters, DR.. Lyman Hall,
one of the signers of the Declara-
tion of Independence, or Abraham
Baldwin one of the trainers of the
constitution. In general, Baldwin
depicts the frivolitics, petty rival
ries of men and especially women
in the higher circles. DR.. Hall on
the contrary relates the foibles,
gnarled prejudiccs, robust exe--
cises, and hardy games of the COM
mon people. Society and its small
talk was Bal,lwiu's delight; men
and sylvan sports were Halls
forte. OF course the whole thing
was Longstraet's own work, but
there seems to have been dis!lnc
ti,n that he observed in using
these names. Thes" sketches are
specially interesting to South Car
olinians from the fact that he au-
thor was for awhile the president
of the old South Carolina College
"a position the most dignifed
and Influential in the State at that
time. And furthermore, the book
attained wide popularity in ante
Jclhum days among our people:
many of its expressions and names
passing into our political par
lance.
Twill no:ice only two scenes out
of great number equally inter-
esting. The first is styled the
sd. batting society" This gives us
a picture of the debating society
IN the famous Academy of DR..
Waddel, where some of our most