The Tupelo journal., 1906-06-01
TUpELo, MISSISSIPPI. FRIDAY JUNE |. 1906
PEN-plCTURES OF THE OLDEN TIME
BY COL w L. CLAYTON.

1 J.
totoc on the se.oai Monday Of
September, 1859, yolmight havS
seen two hocSarl N vending their
way from the fos',n ,r to the lat
ter namel tow l. One of th2
men was man Of say fifty, tn:
other was you IL nan of TWEEN
ty four, both LAYERS. attending
the Circuit Court At Pontotoc, the
older one looking after business,
the younger one s,eking to ex-
tend his acquainta lceship with
the bar of the District, and hop
| ing that some poor man in trol'
BILE might call on him for help
The day was of that mellow,
balmy, sunshiny kind which the
South only can furnish, with the
faintest breath of coming fall, the
fields flecked with the fleecy sta
pie, the red berries of the su
mach flashing by the roadside
and the varigated colors of the
rainbow interviewer in every val
ley and hillside, wherever the
forests still stood intact. And
when the sun sank beneath the
western hills, throwing back ten
thousand coruscations of glory, it
presented a scene to be remem
bered for a lifetime. When
these lawyers had saluted the
judge and mingled with their
brethren of the bar to their sat
isfaction, they returned toward
old Fulton together. But before
they had passed the half way
station, the young man excused
himself for failing to accompany
his friend any further, and de-
fected to the left of the main
road in order to see a good wo-
man who owed him a fee for pro-
fessional services rendered, which
in his then impecunious condi-
ton, would have added much to
the weight of his pocketbook.
When the young man approached
the country home, it being late
in the afternoon, and remember
ing what plenty they had in
store, he thought to remain over
night; and this purpose was fixed
to a full determination when he
approached the entrance and
there saw a beautiful and lovely
maiden, just entering the thresh-
old of womanhood, and whose
cheeks were suffused with tell
tale bushes as she bade him well
come. And soft was, that the
young man could say in the Ian
guage of Caesar, "Veni, vide, vi
ci, i,"-"I came, saw, l conquer
ed," and, instead of asking the
good matron for the little money
which she owed him, he plead
for and received the promise Of,
her daughter in marriage ere he
closed his eyes in sleep that beau
tiful September night. This was
not far from the middle of Sep
tember, and that young man
went no more to see the hope
and light of his life till the 9th
day of November, of the same
year, when he went to bring her
home, and only wrote and re.
ceived one letter in the mean
time. What think you of this
young men and fair maidens
who visit and receive the prom
ised one three times a week anc
remain and are detained till af
ter midnight each visit? But
friends and fellow countrymen,
when the hymeneal kiss had beer
given, and the Young husband
had carried his fair young bride
to his own home. the far distant
lightning could be seen and the
far off rnmbling of the thunder
could be heard in the politica
Permanent, portending the won
derful hurricane which soor
spread over rhe Southland ano
blackened her fair fields ano
lovely wales. Every man who
took the platform to deliver az
address, painted in glowing col
ors the heroism and constancy OF
our forefathers of Revolutionary
fame in winning for us our liber
ty, and then urged everyone to
be worthy sons of such magnifi-
Icent sires. And then the poet
joined in with:
"Breathes there the man with soul SC
dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him
burned,
AS home his footsteps he hath turn I'd,
From wandering on foreign strand!
| If such there breathe, go, mark him
well;
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concentrated all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he
| sprung,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung."
! The young husband looked at
his fair and lovely bride and
thought of his obligations to her,