The Tupelo journal., 1905-06-23
PEN.PlCTUREs OF THE OLDEN TIME
BY COL. W. |. CLAYTON.

mond then in Itawamb;
but now in Lee county. /
may be that many things | may
write about my sojourn there
will be considered local, ane
therefore not of general Interest
to your readers, Mr.. Editor. Be
it so, yet, the few survivors Of
that old town, and their children
and grandchildren, wherever
theT lot may be cast, and to
whatever cline they have roamec
will enjoy these pen paintings.
But, Richmond, how can / write
of thee, after the lapse Of these
fifty years! When ! put my pen
to the paper to write of thee, the
crowding scenes Of thy busy life
and thy happy days; thy beauti-
full and lovely women and thy
brave and chivalrous men; thy
little black headed male teacher,
kind and gentle, loving and true,
noble and generous, an honor to
his profession and a friend to
humanity; and thy graceful and
queenly teacher of the young la
dies of that olden time, with a
mind we'll stored with useful
knowledge for the benefit of her
pupils and with a heart as big
as all out DOORS" always alert in
the interest Of the young ladies
and careful that everything pos
sible should be said and done
that might tend to make of them
ornaments to society and a bles-
sing to the world, guiding the
mind and directing the conduct
with a firm hand but loving heart,
and carrying her patrons in her
sleeve and her pupils in her heart;
thy hills and wales and entertwin-
ing chaparral between; thy noble
merchants and learned physi-
clans; thy rows of business hous-
es, with their crowded contents;
thy bright and joyous children,
overhowing the schools, and thy
churches filled with happy wor-
Slippers from Sabbath to Sabbath,
and the old time darkey-slave,
sleek and prim, in charge of the
family carriage, but sitting in
the corner of the old church.
these, all these, and much more,
rise UP before me with their
browning beauty and interest,
like an oasis in the desert to the
wayworn, thirsty traveller, or
like the shadow of a great rock
in a weary land" to the foot-sore
and wayworn soldier! But, dear
old Richmond, when | now rayis-
it thy former beauty and lowell
ness, these visions disappear like
the will O. the wisp, leaving moth
ing but corn and cotton fields in
stead of the vision, and with the
poet we may truly say:
Sweet, smiling village, loveliest of
the lawn,
Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms
withdrawn"
And taking out the hawthorn
from the poets sad and mournful
song of wailing, and substituting
in it's place "redhaw," and we
may again repeat:
"Where once the cottage stood, the
redhaw grew,
Remembrance wakes with all her busy
train,
Swells at my breast, and turns the
past to pain.
To thee t'no more the peasant shall
repair,
To sweet oblivion of his daily care"
And at the old Inn, where the
rule was that joy should be I'M
confined.
1.-THE host himself no longer shall be
found
Careful to see the mantling bliss &c
Nor the coy maid, half willing to be
prest,
Shall kiss the cupto pass it to the rest. 2
And methinks, as the new was
coming into view, and preparing
to push out and destroy the old,
some old timer, who had seen
thee in sunshine and in shade,
and who was anxious that thou
nigh st live on through the ages
to come. and who
I'm conscious virtue brave,
He only wished for worlds beyond thu
grave"
babe thee farewell with many ;