sentimental, and the poetic corner of my brain has yielded an annual nett product, of which the quantity has scarcely been exceeded by any of our native bards. Many of these effusions have been transfered into other journals, and not unfrequently with an editorial comment; such as, "we copy with great pleasure the following beautiful effusion, &c.; or the following curious medley is the anonymous production of one of those garrulous scribblers who infest the high-ways and byways of the commonwealth of letters." Yet such was the apathy of the literary world, that no attempt was made to tear away the mask, behind which my modesty and my respect for common usage had induced me to conceal myself. Jedidiah Joyless was as unknown to the world as the author of Junius, or the course of the Niger. But I said to myself, "such will not always be my fate; the waters of Lethe will not flow forever between myself and a discerning public; some literary Columbus will undertake the discovery, cross the ocean of conjecture, and place upon the intellectual chart, the town of East-Timothy, and the name of Jedidiah Joyless!" I began to look with eager anticipation for that agreeable event, the discovery of myself. I watched with solicitude the daily emissions of the press. When the "American First Class Book" arrived in our village, I searched its pages with the hungry eye of him who seeks the pearl in the caverns of the deep. I found the gems and corals of others in rich profusion; but alas! mine remained in the deep bosom of the ocean buried," in the darkness of the oyster-shell of concealment. I was not found worthy of being arranged into the "first class" of American writers. When the "Common Place Book" came, my hopes rose like the mercury, in the noon of a midsummer-day; but they were soon dashed, and I consoled myself with the reflection that I was not considered a common-place writer. In the "Specimens of American Poetry" I found no specimen of mine; the editor lacked industry, and failed to delve into the chronicles of the deeds of the bard of East-Timothy. But in another compilation, I found a trifle of mine, placed to the credit of a distinguished poet, who now actually wears, in his glittering coronal, a feather dropped from my wing, and borne by the winds to a fame which is denied to its parent. Judge, then, with what pleasure I received the first number of your elegant miscellany, addressed to "Jedidiah Joyless, Esq. P. M.”— Alas! worthy sirs, the last mentioned initials might have been spared, for they no longer belong to me, unless they stand for Post-Mortem, in allusion to my departure from political life. But the addition " with the compliments of the editors" pleased me, inasmuch as it was the first compliment ever paid me in my proper name and surname. You are the discoverer, for whom I have long been looking-the very Columbus-the identical colon, fated to conclude the period of my anonymous existence, to end the sentence of moral excommunication, under which I have long languished. Whether your sense of justice, or a laudable care for "number one," induced you to send it to me, is a matter which I ought not, perhaps, to scrutinize. Where the act is noble, we should not examine too closely into the motive. Great effects frequently spring from very inadequate causes; large streams from little fountains flow;" a clown may discover a mine, by stumbling upon a lump of ore; and the world may owe the introduction of Jedidiah Joyless, into its intellectual circles, to an accident, an apparent chance, in which you, Sir, are the honored instrument. I conclude this communication by informing you, that I enclose, herewith, a small but choice collection of essays, written by me, while I had the honor to be Postmaster at East-Timothy, and numbered from one to fifty-four, as per margin, which please note. They are endorsed "Memoranda, by a Man of Letters," and were intended to have been franked by me to posterity, for posthumous publication; but are now committed to you, with my "compliments," and in the confidence that you will dispose of them, in the manner which shall seem, to your matured judgement, most conducive to the best interests of our common country and our uncommon selves. JED. JOYLESS, Esq. AND LATE P. M. SOUTH-CAROLINA. NO. II. HAD I anticipated a second number, I would have so ordered the first, that one theme might follow another in some natural order; but as it is, I may as well go on. The fault, if there be any, is yours, not mine. You required three pages and a half, and no more-but I will not submit to your bed of Procrustes-I have more to say "'T was for your pleasure then I wrote,- There are, between Charleston and the Savannah river, ranges of islands, as rich as any in the world. Before the cultivation of cotton in Carolina, many of them were the haunts of alligators, overgrown with woods and rank weeds; but they now are cultivated by a polished and intelligent people, and when a traveler passes them swiftly in the steamboat, they seem to him like the blessed islands in Mirza's vision. I have not been upon all of them, and will describe but one. Not far from Beaufort, you will discover before you a settlement that looks, at a distance, like a thriving New-England village; so much so that you might think yourself at home, without wishing to be there. At the landing is a thick cluster of palmettoes, so close that their tops are interwoven and resemble a dilapidated entablature, while the tall straight trunks look like the pillars of a temple. The palmetto will increase your sense of the beautiful, and its graceful figure is well chosen, as an emblem in the arms of the state. Beyond this is a line of orange trees, bending under fruit worthy of the Hesperides. The ground is covered with oranges, and I have seen on the trees clusters of eight, all of the largest size. Next you will see what magnificent trees may spring from an inconsiderable acorn, in a couple of live oaks, the emblems of strength and immortality. There is majesty in an old oak. His trunk is of twelve feet girth; his arms are extended horizontally to a great distance, and seem to wave with an air of gentleness and protection. But like the Persian's, his noblest characteristic is his beard, a sable silvered." 66 Men call it moss, and you may see sprouts of the same in a maple swamp in New-England, but not so long as a dandy's moustache. But in the live oak it descends below the girdle, it almost sweeps the ground, and hangs from the upper branches. The effect of it upon a tree is precisely that of a long beard upon a man, giving it a grave and solemn appearance. A tree, "an' please your honor, has a soul"! At least I could never be hard enough to wound one like this with an axe. I should almost expect to see the blood flow, and to hear like Eneas-Quid miserum laceras ? The laurel is well seen near the oak-it is the union of beauty and strength; it is the very tree into which Apollo might well transform his beloved, and it makes the best rewards for poets and heroes. The trunk is round and smooth; the tree is lofty; the leaves are five or six inches long, and of a deep and glossy green, to which northern woods afford no parallel. The whole tree is studded with blossoms as thickly as the sky is spangled with stars. The blossoms are of a delicate white, of the lily shape, and of the circumference of twelve inches. Solomon never had such a robe as nature has thrown over the laurel. Let us walk up to the planter's gate, through an avenue of the aloe, and we shall be welcomed by the barking of some twenty dogshounds, setters, spaniels, terriers, mongrels, and "curs of low degree." The house has two wings, and in the rear, at the distance of eight rods, are the kitchen and store-houses. On the plantation the sportsman will find abundance and variety of On a long sea-beach, like a sanded floor, and extending for miles, are curlews and sea birds innumerable. The curlew is a large kind of a wood-cock, (in appearance, at least,) and it is little less in size than a domestic fowl. Many may be killed at a shot, and, when any are slain, the survivers settle round it, and expose themselves again. The coves and creeks have geese, and many kinds of ducks. In the woods, the deer, before he bounds away, will sometimes stop a moment to look at the hunter. The deer is sometimes hunted at night, with a torch, and, when startled, stands to gaze, while his luminous eyes betray him, and he is shot in the forehead. Men have sometimes been killed in this sport, as in all others. It is said, that the eyes of a colt have an appearance like those of a deer, and the sportsman, therefore, sometimes strikes a coarser meat than venison. There is a large spider, and his eyes emit a pale bright ray like that of a diamond, and the alligator shows two red and burning coals. The moccasin snake lies listless in the rice fields on the surface of the water, and will not bite the naked leg that presses against him, though by day I would not cheerfully set foot near any of his tribe. Raccoons and opossums are vermin too ignoble for the gun, and are hunted with clubs and curs. When the tide is rising, many raccoons, may be seen slowly returning from the marshes. They have been after shell-fish, and it is an opinion that fire cannot burn out of the negroes, that the raccoons catch crabs with their tails. The raccoon places himself on the bank and moves his tail with a gentle motion on the water. The crab scizes it for a moment, and by a sudden jerk is thrown upon the bank. But the oyster sometimes catches the raccoon; the quadruped, finding the shell invitingly open, thrusts in his paw; but he sometimes ventures upon an oyster so large and so firmly embedded, that it closes the shell like a trap upon the depredator, and holds him to be drowned by the tide. The smaller oysters, that are left bare by the tide, are called raccoon oysters; they stand upright, are five inches long and closely wedged together. The upper part comes to an edge, the nature of which I shall long remember; they are more perilous to pass than the broken junk-bottles that are set upon the garden walls at Charleston. I was once landing on a beach from a boat, which moved suddenly backward from my step, and left me falling on the oysters. In moments of extremity, many thoughts pass through the mind in brief time; and, although I am a heavy body, I yet found time in falling to devise the best means of alighting, where all were bad. After weighing the disadvantages of falling on the knees or shoulder, (and the latter position would hardly have saved my face,) I made a sudden effort, and came upon the right arm and hand. The boatmen gave a general groan ; so that I had sympathy in suffering. I rose up with my sleeves cut into shreds, and in my palm as many deep cross-cuts, (disclosing bone and sinew,) as there are seams in the back of an armadillo. It was six weeks before I could free the wound from all the broken fragments of shells. The sport, that has pleased me most in Carolina, is digging out an old alligator from his hole; he is so touchy, that it is pleasant to put him in a passion. He burrows in the ground like a wood-chuck, and the first operation of the siege is to prevent a sally, by driving stakes at the entrance of his hole. The next movement is to dig down upon him at some fifteen feet from the stakes, and he is commonly found two or three feet beneath the surface. He takes very quietly a few punches with a pole, thinking to pass himself off for a pine log; but a touch or two with the corner of the spade brings his head to the aperture, and his little grey eyes are seen twinkling with rage. He tries to crawl forth, and when his forepaws are on the surface, and while he is striving to draw himself out, is the time to cleave his hard head with an axe. If he should get unharmed upon the green sward, it is unsafe to await his charge, and it is a great misfortune to be lame. I had rather be a cripple at a dance; for the alligator's mouth is about a fifth of his length, and his teeth are like spikes. When the monster is dead, the negroes shout and caper with extravagant joy. The blacks are never better pleased than when they are hunting in the woods; and it is seldom that they have not in larder the flesh of a raccoon or opossum. The allowance of food to an adult is a peck of corn weekly; and, to children, half as much. This fare is sometimes varied with a larger quantity of rice and yams. This is not sumptuous living; but the slaves have their own private fields, poultry and swine, and can often purchase delicacies; and I believe, that one, very prudent, might, in twelve years, collect enough to pur chase his freedom. They are often in condition to sell the corn that is dealt out to them, having various means of providing for their own tables. The rivers and tide creeks are stored with fish, and among the islands oysters may be had in any quantity. Besides, on a plantation there are often five hundred neat cattle ranging the woods, and swine innumerable. Slavery seldom fortifies honesty; and, besides, Men call it moss, and you may see sprouts of the swamp in New-England, but not so long as a da But in the live oak it descends below the girdle, it ground, and hangs from the upper branches. The tree is precisely that of a long beard upon a man, giv solemn appearance. A tree, "an' please your hon least I could never be hard enough to wound one axe. I should almost expect to see the blood flow Eneas-Quid miserum laceras ? The laurel is well seen near the oak-it is the strength; it is the very tree into which Apollo migł beloved, and it makes the best rewards for poet trunk is round and smooth; the tree is lofty; the ' inches long, and of a deep and glossy green, to w afford no parallel. The whole tree is studded wit as the sky is spangled with stars. The blosso white, of the lily shape, and of the circumferen Solomon never had such a robe as nature has thro Let us walk up to the planter's gate, through a and we shall be welcomed by the barking of hounds, setters, spaniels, terriers, mongrels, and ' The house has two wings, and in the rear, at rods, are the kitchen and store-houses. On the plantation the sportsman will find abur game. On a long sea-beach, like a sanded flo miles, are curlews and sea birds innumeral a large kind of a wood-cock, (in appearance little less in size than a domestic fowl. Man shot, and, when any are slain, the survivers set pose themselves again. The coves and cre many kinds of ducks. In the woods, the deer, b will sometimes stop a moment to look at the sometimes hunted at night, with a torch, and, w gaze, while his luminous eyes betray him, and he Men have sometimes been killed in this sport, said, that the eyes of a colt have an appearanc and the sportsman, therefore, sometimes strikes venison. There is a large spider, and his eyes like that of a diamond, and the alligator shows coals. The moccasin snake lies listless in the face of the water, and will not bite the naked le him, though by day I would not cheerfully set tribe. Raccoons and opossums are vermin too igno are hunted with clubs and curs. When the tic coons, may be seen slowly returning from the ma: after shell-fish, and it is an opinion that fire canı groes, that the raccoons catch crabs with their places himself on the bank and moves his tail wi the water. The crab seizes it for a moment, an non the bank. But the oyster somet adruped, finding the shell inviting |