But 'pears to me I see some signs Thet we ’re a-goin' to use our senses : Jeff druv us into these bard lines, An' ough' to bear his half th' expenses ; Slavery 's Secession's heart an' will, South, North, East, West, where'er you find it, An' ef it drors in the War's mill, D'ye say them thunder-stones sha’n’t grind it p D'ye s’pose, ef Jeff giv him a lick, Ole Hick’ry'd tried his head to sof'n So 's 't would n't hurt thet ebony stick Thet's made our side see stars so of'n ? “No!” he'd ha' thundered, “on your knees, An' own one flag, one road to glory! Soft-heartedness, in times like these, Shows sof'ness in the upper story!” An' why should we kick up a muss About the Pres'dunt's proclamation ? It ain't a-goin' to lib’rate us, Ef we don't like emancipation: The right to be a cussed fool Is safe from all devices human, It's common (ez a gin'l rule) To every critter born o' woman So we ’re all right, an' I, fer one, Don't think our cause 'll lose in vally By rammin' Scriptur' in our gun, An' gittin' Natur' fer an ally : To lift one human bein's level, Or, anyhow, to spile a devil ! Millennium by express to morrer; Tu many on 'em, to my sorrer : Men ain't made angels in a day, No matter how you mould an' labor 'em,Nor’riginal ones, I guess, don't stay With Abe so of'n ez with Abraham, The’ry thinks Fact a pooty thing, An' wants the banns read right ensuiu'; 'Thout years o' settin' up an' wooin'; Marks centries with the minute-finger, Though it doos seem to try an' linger. Abe's gut his will et last bloom-furnaced The strain o' bein' in deadly earnest : -we want to know In Freedom ez Jeff doos in Slavery. An' every man knows who'll be winner, Thet goes down deeper than his dinner: Without no need o'proclamation, Au’risen up Earth's Greatest Nation ! KETELOPOTOMACHIA, PRELIMINARY NOTE. In the month of February, 1866, the editors of the “ Atlantic Monthly" re. ceived from the Rev. Mr. Hitchcock of Jaalam a letter enclosing the macaronic verses which follow, and promising to send more, if more should be communi. cated. “They were rapped out on the evening of Thursday last past," he says, " by what claimed to be the spirit of my late predceessor in the ministry here, the Rev. Dr. Wilbur, through the medium of a young man at present domiciled in my family. As to the possibility of such spiritual manifestations, or whether they be properly so entitled, I express no opinion, as there is a Jivision of senti. ment on that subject in the parish, and many persons of the highest respectability in social standing entertain opposing views. The young man who was improved as a medium submitted himself to the experiment with manifest reluctance, and is still unprepared to believe in the authenticity of the manifestations. During coursc. his residence with me his deportment has always been exemplary; he has been constant in his attendance upon our family devotions and the public ministrations of the Word, and has more than once privately stated to me, that the latter had osten brought him under deep concern of mind. The table is an ordinary quadrupedal one, weighing about thirty pounds, three feet seven inches and a half in height, four feet square on the top, ard of beech or maple, am not definitely prepared to say which. It had once belonged to my respected predecessor, and had been, so far as I can learn upon careful inquiry, of perfectly regular and correct habits up to the evening in question. On that occasion the young man previously alluded to had been sitting with his hands resting carelessly upon it, while I read over to him at his request certain portions of my last Sabbath's dis On a sudden the rappings, as they are called, commenced to render themselves audible, at first faintly, but in process of time more distinctly and with violent agitation of the table. The young man expressed himself both surprised and pained by the wholly unexpected, and, so far as he was concerned, unprecedented occurrence. At the earnest solicitation, however, of several who happened to be present, he consented to go on with the experiment, and with the assistance of the alphabet commonly employed in similar emergencies, the following communication was obtained and written down immediately by myself. Whether any, and if so, how much weight should be attached to it, I venture no decision. That Dr. Wilbur had sometimes employed his leisure in Latin versification I have ascertained to be the case, thought all that has been discovered of that nature among his papers consists of some fragmentary passages of a version into hexameters of portions of the Song of Solomon. These I had communicated about a week or ten days previous (ly) to the young gentleman who officiated as mediurin the communication afterwards received. I have thus, I believe, stated all the material facts that have any elucidative bearing upon this mysterious occurrence. So far Mr. Hitchcock, who seems perfectly master of Webster's unabridged quarto, and whose flowing style leads him into certain further expatiations for which we have not room. We have since learned that the young man he speaks of was a sophomore, put under his care during a sentence of rustication from College, where he had distinguished himself rather by physical experiments on the comparative power of resistance in window-glass to various solid substances, than in the more regular studies of the place. In answer to a letter of inquiry, the professor of Latin says, “There was no harm in the boy that I know of beyond his loving mischief more than Latin, nor can I think of any spirits likely to possess him except those commonly called animal. He was certainly not re. markable for his Latinity, but I see nothing in verses you enclose that would lead me to think them beyond his capacity, or the result of any special inspiration whether of beech or maple. Had that of birch been tried upon him earlier and more faithfully, the verses would perhaps have been better in quality and certainly in quantity." This exact and thorough scholar then goes on to point out many false quantities and barbarisms. It is but fair to say, however, that the hor, whoever he was, seems not to have been unaware of some of them himself, as is shown by a great many notes appended to the verses as we received them, and purporting to be by Scaliger, Bentley and others, -among them the Esprit de Voltaire! These we have omitted as clearly meant to be humorous and altogether failing therein. Though entirely satisfied that the verses are altogether unworthy of Mr. Wilbur. who seems to have been a tolerable Latin scholar after the fashion of his day, yet we have determined to print them here partly as belonging to the nes gestæ of this collection, and partly as a warning to their putative author which may keep him from such indecorous pranks for the future. KETTELOPOTOMACHIA. P. Ovidii Nasonis carmen heroicum macaronicum perplexametrum, inter Getas getico more compostum, denuo per medium ardentispiritualem, adjuvante mensa diabolice obsessa, recuperatum, curaque Jo. Conradi Schwarzii umbræ, aliis necnon plurimis adjuvantibus, restitutum. LIBER I. 5 IO 15 PUNCTORUM garretos colens et cellara Quinque, Condidit hanc Smithius Dux, Captinus inclytus ille 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Poppere fellerum a tergo, aut stickere clam bowikniso, Nescio an ille Polardus duplefveoribus ortus, Usque dabant operam isti omnes, noctesque diesque, Readere ibi non posse est casus commoner ullo ; 65 70 75 So 85 |
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