rum,isiiiiD WEEKLY,
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V-f v CENTRAL RAIL ROAD.
uThe subjoined extract of a letter, writtea to
gentleman iii this Town, will be found highly en
Cuuraging to tlie friends of tha Central Rait Road.
The author it la due him to nay, has been uni.
. forroly of the opinion, since his first vwit to thi
part oftby country, that the Central Rail Road
in bomidto succeed ; and few have done more
than be) to enlighten the public mind on the sub
ject of its advantages, and to encourage men of
means to lake hold of the work with unwavering
confidence of the happiest results. -;: i ;
II is scheme for the ex tension of the Road to
the Tennessee line, is magnificent, and we led
eoufident that it will sooner or later be accom
plished. . When the Road shall bo finished to
this 'point, like a plant,' it will send out its main
Branch in the direction whence greatest nourish'
ment is to be derived ; and the rallies of the Ca
yawHa, French Broad, and the rich plains of
Tennessee is the natural course for it take ; ; a,nd
there It will go. Then shall North Carolina have
a back-bone to support her fair proportions ; and
, her children will toss up their cops with joy U
. see their old mother drop her miserable crutches,
f and stand erect, firm and independent, as do her
taen.fSalitbiirv Watchman.
51R. WILEY'S CARD.
" -I : From the Register. ,
' Mb. Gales t About the middle of September,
as I ws returning to North Carolina from W
tern Virginia, I learned, for the first time, that an
Editor of the South had discovered in" Roanoke'
a publication treasonable to our section of the U
nion. I passed across the State, and through
Raleigh, and I saw many acquaintances, of all
parties and professions, and nearly all y of them,
when consulted by me, advised me" to treat the
charge alluded to with silent - contempt. The
origin of the nrticle, the coarseness of the' lang
uage and the brutality of the sentiment, seemed
to make it wnwoYihy of my notice ; but after
mature reflection, I have concluded. to ma Ke a
publication of ror principles opon the subject .of
Aboliuonisnuljyae deeply impressed with a
sense or gratitude towards my Worth Carolina
friends who had so generously 'defended me;
and I wish to sh?w tt them that their confidence
is not misplaced. Besides, there are some we!!-'
meaning persons, who regard Literature and fan
aticism as inseparably connected ; and in the
opinion of such, all authors are mono-maniacs
on some subject or other. In addition to all this,
we have fallen on evil times; there never was a
period in the history of this country, when the
fierce passions of the human heart were develop
ed to such an intensity. Politicians are agitat
ing for the dissolution of our glorious Union:
and it becomes all moderate men to whose views
the least importance is attached, to let their posi
tion be distinctly known. . : V
Appended to the Chapter in "Roanoke, so
rudely attacked and so utterly misrepresented bv
the M Fredericksburg Recorder," was originally
a note, and in this note the nuthortPok occasion
to make mention of the abolitionists, lie cited
this Chapter as an illustration of the fact that
$otHhmt people dared to discuss some of the
evils conrrecjed with slavery ; and he expressed
the opinion tnt generally the slave's best friend
is his master, and this for obvious reasons-
Sometimes a brutal master will oiulcavor to fijree
his slave to pander to bis vicious .appetites.;,, and
sometimes such attempts deeply shock the sens
ibilities of the slave, while they are, if known,
severely conderfVed by the majority of slave
owners. Wild Bill," os the the reader can
see, manifested n strong aflectiou foi all the mem
bers of the family to which he had first belonged;
and he was not ashamed of his first condition.
The rumors, of his misdeeds, dir. were; mere
rumor., and true to the history of countries where
there are fugitives from justice, or i from Wat
annoyed with such requests for opportunity to
M study " a coat made in his establishment, and
not regarded by him as equal to the best of his
productions. ; The coats made by; the best tail
ors of Paris and London have generally a loose
"baggy" fit, and lark the graceful closeness of
adaption to the form, which is characteristic of
the work of the fashionable Schneiders of New
York. The Parisian tailors display great taste
in design ; but those in New York, taking the
fashions from Paris excel them in -execution, r
IMP V A T WlT!7rT7
XL J .1 V XL tl JlUVUUi
itisTrttrierOcTrier149,
" Dear Sir: A letter now before tne from one
of the Northern Contractors, to whom I wrote
when in Salisbury, refering to the project for
building the Central Rail Road,' holds the follow
ing language;
. "Send me the charter, and I will immediately
proceed to raise the necessary men and funds.
Your scheme cannot fail to be a productive one."
Another writes that he likes the project well,
and wishes to know what step? ho shall take in
the matter. Both of these men are -full v able to
take the u hale suWriatinii list ihenrseles. sortdnqij "and: bis conversations were-intruded
lUat J now. consider ill Ctntrtd Ua'djload , at ("t b3 e os of intt Higrnt hije prop!?? and; not
Ttfe. I to be scattered among the negroes as incendiary
documents. J he runaway was a Utopian, and
though a negro, fond of discussing abstract ques
tions ; nor would it have been exactly natural to
make his boyish interlocutor equally as wordy,
eloquent or passionate. Still, the boy's argu
ments were conclusive; and such discissions as
those in the text nriy be heard in the South at
every fire-side which is graced with intelligence.
The note to which 1 alluded was left out of
the Magazine, because it obviously tended to
provoke controversy ; and it was thought that
the final denouement which was all written and
stereotyped last winter, did not need an explana
tion for its own sake.
I dread fanatics of all kinds as much as I dread
l mad-dogs; and I regard the former as being a-
bout as great a nuisance as the latter. We have
fanatics at the South who are nearly as wild as
those at the North, and some of them, at both
enrln. are obnn ioiTi to thf? dditi(mnl mid rwltnuR
charge of hy pocrisy. There's method in their
madness ; and well will it be for the people, if
they will look into each other's hearts tor their
own intentions and wishes, and for those of their
brethren, and not trust loo much to the inflamma
tory addresses of those who would lose their
consequence if there were no elements of strife.
Though we have some enthusiasts in North
Carolina, 1 do not believe there is a single soil Of
that good old Commonwealth who has aims a
gainst the Union; and it is not improbable that
the sturdy sense and honesty -of our people will
yet prove one of the bulwarks of our Constitu
tion, and thus of freedom and even'of civilization
over the world.
I believe myself to be a friend of the human
race, because 1 am myself a man ; and I desire
firsrthrv?etiarrrfthe "W-hrtesrforHthis-a
I belong, and with it are all my associations, po
litical and social. I am, therefore, not an aboli
tionist, nor do 1 entertain extreme opinions on a
ny subject. '
, In conclusion, I, will say of " Sartain's Union
Magazine,'' that it is not tinctured with any spe
cies of fanaticism ; and while it desires to incul
cate sound morals and to propagate a taste for
polite Literature, religious and political sectari
anism is carefully excluded , from, its columns.
The Publishers ind Editors are practical and sober-minded
and liberal-minded men ; they go for
the Union of the States and the union of all hon
est men. I know the men of whom I write ;
and I know that while they regard with con
tempt the scurrirous-bullilicmsjolilLiterate ; scrib
bers, they desire and deserve the good will of the
intelligent, people of the Souths
Will the North Carolina papers do me the just-iee-to
publish this cardT C. II. WILEY. "
Oct. 17th 1819.
By WoJen, God of 8kiii,
Kraut whence e-wira Wenatloy, that is Wednesday,
Truth M a thing that err I will kerp -z -
.Unto thylke day in which I creep int.!
My sepulchre CiMrwatoa-r.
We must not stop here. I lie Koad must be
continued from Salisbury. West to the Tennes
see line the difficulties in the way of this pro
ject, are nothing like as great as those from Sal
isbury to Raleigh. The valleys of the French
Broad and Catawba offering the easiest of plat
eaus for .such constructions.
three millions more will carry the Road to
Tennessee, and I speak advisedly when I say
that with, the same facilities now given by the
State in the1 Central Rail Road Charter, I will
undertake to have a million raised on the exten
sion in six months. , Keep talking of this mat
ter, and keep the people talking of it, and it will
be done. Vcrv truly, &r.
S.'MOYLAN FOX.
POSITION OH BISHOP IVES.
lost WltAt x?AttVA mJl fin lfiiirt(nl
a v at0 w.a.fct- riw .rreaaa.f u a aiiijuviitii
paper," has a brief review of a late pamphlet issu
ed by the Diocesan of Nr Carolina, entitled, " A
Personal Letter to the Ulergy and Laity of his
l)rocess." The Southern Churchman promises
a further notice hereafter. It says: Bishop Ives
now candidly discloses what we conjectured
from the first, that the proceedings of the late
Convention at Salisbury, which have excited so
u ... ..r.. u:...:r i..
iiiiivit uriiiivut. iimu ic-iuiriii.n t iiiiiisrii. ill
speaking ol the Committee which reported on
that occasion, he says i - " It was still their busi
ness to pass an implied, but not on that account,
the less oppressive censure upon tjiat portion of
the clergy, with the Bishop at theirhead. "t say
the Bishop since it is notorious that, both in the
I'onvcniion nnu mc v-umuiiuce, no was nancu
hs the chief bfl'cnder." And thus viewing the
..MttttftAM,!. .llift lt.iJuLn.M-a&aJtKLa. lt flvtlmf. tin lina
hitherto taught, and detends it against the censures
of the Convention, protesting at the same time
against the right of the Convention to act in the
premises... liishop Ives in this le tor aowshis
approbation of the Oxford I'racts for the Times
and declares that it has been his purpose to em
ploy all his influence in bringing his Diocese to
a conformity with the system which the set forth.
.Tlie circumstances which led to the formation of
the Holy Cross," under Bishop Ives at its head,
are ucaiico in uie rasiorai jjciier, anu us oojects
areexplaincd. These, among other things, were
"io inculcate ttppn all within their injluence the
tacramental system of the Chtirch, particularly
Jiaptismul Regeneration, the Heal Presence of
War Lord in the Holy Eucharist, and Sacerdo-'latbmhanS-vrfmnnimtv1--
r - -j - - J new
' '"consist of three orders." 1st. Perpetual mem
bers who must be unmarried men. Othcr
, persons living in the institution. 3.. Persons not
residing at Valle Lruds." Very much to our
stoiiislinient, as we presume it will be to the sur
prise of a large majority of readers, there is not a
word respecting the dissolution of this society.
The fact was. affirmed in connexion with the pro
ceedings of the late Convention, but has hot we
believe, been formally announced by the Socie-
it -
iy iibcii or any oi lis iaie oincers. ,
Facinalion of danger. " At the Beige of Gi-
on liar, iicb wnanv iflmr,-w tiw- 4 m reg hihjdi,
a supcrintendant of the working parties, lost his
leg by a shot, on the slope of the hill under the
.castle. -II raw, the shot before the fatal effect,
but was facinated to the spot.- This sudden ar
rest of the faculties was not uncommon. Sev
eral instances occurred to my own observation,
where men totally free, have had- their senses ?o
engaged by a shell in its descent, that, though
.cnaililn ot" their danger, even so far as to rrv fur
. ww..-.--.- T- -"0 J
assisunee, they have been immediately fixed to
the .place. But what is more : remarkable, these
.inen have so instantaneously recovered them-
kcIvcs fiiii it's Tall to llift rround. - as to' renin vp L
n pl;vep ol SiUV-ty Wbirc. th shcbprsti"
Good Example.' Governor Dana, in his re
cent inaugural message, says that three-fourths
of the population of Maine are farmers ; and that
three-lbiu ths of the rising generation will be farm
ers, and yet there is no opportunity for one of
all this number to obtain an education adapted
to, and in aid of bin vocation, lie recommends
the establishment of an agricultural school as a
model and commencement of a system of such
schools. , '. -V " "' V7 '
" 1 T - 11 "" 1 ' ' '
' I- - - -
A'fir J ork , Tailors.---Tit the chief cities of
Europe, it is now acknowledged that the New
York tailors make the best coats in -the world,
and can best fit that important article of civilized
dress to tho form of muii. American gentlemen
in Paris,' wearing New York made coals; have J
Whoever has made a voyage up the lludron,
roust remember tho ICaa (skill mountains. They
are a dismembered branch of the great Appala
chian family, and are seen away to the west of
the river, swelling up to a noble height, and
lording it over the surrounding country. E'cry
change of season, every change of weather,, in
deed, every hour of the day, produces some
change in the mpgical hues and shapes of these
mountains ; and they are regarded by all the
good wives, far ami near, as perfect barometers.
When the weather is fair and settled,' they are
clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold
outlines on the clear evening sky ; but some
times, when tho rest of the landscape is cloudless,
they will gather a hood of gray vapours about
their summits, which, in the last rays of tho vet
ting Sun, will glow and light up like a crown of
glory,
At the foot of these fairv mountains, thevov- l-oucnce".
ager may have descried the light smoke curling
up from a village, whose shingle roofs gleam -
mong the trees, just where the blue tints of the
upland melt away into the fresh green of the
nearer landscape. It is a little village of great
antiquity, having been founded by some of tho
Dutch colonists, in the early times of the pro
vince, just about the beginning of the govern
ment of the good Peter Stuy vcsain, (may he rcsi
in peace Ji and ilierc crcsvwrV the hpues of
ihronjyEral sejttrjs stnjidtng',w4i1tjn Vfewc-ir,'
on his farm ; it was the most pestilent little piece
of ground in the whole country every thing a-
bout it went wrong, and, would go wrong in spite
of him. His fences were continually falling to
pieces ; his cows would either go astray, or get
among the cabbages ; weeds were sure to grow
quicker in his field than any where else ; the rain
always made a point of setting in just as he had
some out-door work to do ; so that though his
patrimonial estate had dwindled away under his
management, acre by acre, until there was little
more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and
potatoes, yet it was the worst conditioned farm
in the neighborhood. '
His children, too. were as ragged and wild as
if they belonged , to nobody. His eon Rip, an
urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to
inherit the habits, with the old clolhestf his fath
er. He was generally seen trooping like a colt
at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of hia
father's cast-off galligaskins, which he had much
ado to hold up with one hand, as a fine lady
does her train in bad weather.
Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those
happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions,
who lake the, world easy, eat white bread or
brown, whichever can be got with least thought
or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny
than work for a - pound. . If left to himself,' he
would have whistled life away, in perfect content
ment ; but his wife kept cdntinually dinning in
his ears about his idleness, Ins carelessness, and
the rain lie was bringing on his family. ,
Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was in
cessantly going, and every thing he said or did
was sure to produce's torrent of household elo-
Rip had but sne way of replying to all
lectures of the Kind, and that, oy Trequenr use.
had grown into Vhabit. Tie "shrugged his shoul
ders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said
nothing. This, -however, always provoked a
fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain
to draw oil' his forces, and take to the oulsule of
the house the only ride which, in truth, belongs
to a henpecked IjusbanJ. - ,
Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog
Woll, who was as much henpecked as his mas-
"fr lK.tvVifc JWinlie rega-rcd 4hrm 'as
built of small yellow bricks brought from Hol
land, having latticed windows and gable fronts,
surmounted with weathercocks.
In that same village, and in one of these very
houses, (which, to tell the precise truth, was
sadly time-worn and weather-beaten.) there lived
may years since, while the country was yet a
province of Great Britain, a simple good-natured
fellow, of.the name of Rip Van Winkle. He
was a descendant of the Van Winkles who figur
ed so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter
Stuy vesant, and accompanied him to the siege of
fort Christina. He inherited, however, but little
of the-martial character of his ancestors. I have
observed that he was a simple good-natured
man ; he was moreover a kind neighbour, and
an jbedient heiv-peckeAl JiusbamL Iudet;d, io the
lattcrTircumstancrTnightbeowing that meeknes
companions in idleiiess'aml "even Tooled upon
Wolf with an evil eye, as the cause of his mas
ter's going so olten astray. True it is, in all
points of spirit befitting, an honorable dog, he was
as courageous an animal as ever scoured the
woodsbut what courage can withstand theever
during and all-besetting terrors of a woman's ton
gue I The moment Wolf filtered the house, his
crest fell, his tail drooped to the ground, or curl
ed between his legs, he sneaked about withag-il-lows
air, casting many a sidelong glance at Dame
Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of a broom
stick or ladle, he would fly to the door with yelp
ing precipitation. .v
Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van
Winkle, as years of matrimony rolled on : a tart
temper never mellows with age, and a sharp ton-gelsll
I . : . - r-- t !- I t a '
of snirhuhith irained him such universal nonular- nsiaiH use. ror a long w.u.e ae uscu io con
ity ; for those men aVe most apt to bo !equi-1 oleliiinielf, when, driven from home, by fre-
ous and conciliating abroad, who arc under the
discipline 6f shrews at home. Their tempers,
doubtless, are rendered plaint and malleable in
the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation, and a
curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the
world for teaching the virtues of patience and
long-suffer iog. A termagant wife may, there
fore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable
blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was thrice
blessed. .
Certain it is, thai ho was a great favorite a
teiig U thewgoQiLjrivtc
usual with the amiable sex, took his part in all
family squabbles, and never failed, whenever
they talked those matters over in their evening
gbssipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van
V Inkle t --.-The children of tho village, too, would
shout with joy whenever he approached. He
assisted at their sports, madd their playthings,
taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and
told them long stories of ghosts, witches, and In
dians. Whenever, he went dodging about the
village, he was surrounded by a troop of them,
hanging on his skirts, clambering on 'his back,
and playing a thousand tricks on bun wiili mi
punity; an
throughout tho neighborhood.
The great error in Rip's composition was an
insuperable aversion to all kinds of profitable la
bor. It could no be from tho' want of assiduity
or perseverance ; for ho would sit on a wet rock,,
with a rod as long anil heavy as a Tartar's lahee,
aiiilfish airday without a murmur, eveii though
he should not be' encouraged by a single nibble.
He would carry a fowling-piece on his shoulder,
for hours together, trudging through woods and
swamps and up hill and down dale, to shoot
few squirrels or wild pidgeons. Ho would never
refuse to assist a neighbour even In the Toughest
toil, and was a foremost man at all country frol
ics for husking Indian corn, or building stone
fences. The women .of the village, too, used to
employ him to run their errands, and to do saeh
litdc odd jobs as theiriess ; obliging husbands
quenting a kind of perpetual club of the sages
philosophers, and other idle .personages of the
village, which held its sessions on a bench before
a small inn, designated by a rubicund portrait of
his majesty Georgs the Third. Here they used
to sit in the shade, of a long lazy summer's day,
talking listlessly over village, gossip, or telling
endless sleepy stories about nothing. But it
would have been worth any statesman's money
to have heard the profound discussions which
t omelimes took place, when by cbaneo an old
newspaper fell into their hands, from some pass-
traveler. How solemnly ihey would KsteiiT
to the contents, as drawled out by Derrick Van
Buinmel, the schoolmaster, a dapper learned lit
tle man, who was not to be daunted by the most
gigantic word in the dictionary ; and how sagely
Ihey would deliberate upon public events some
months after thev had taken place, J
The opinions of this junto were completely
controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the
village, and landlord of the inn, at . the door of
which he took his seat from morning till night,
iuet moving sufficiently to avoid tho sun, and
keep in the shade of a large tree ; so that the
d"oTrtogOBld-tan-lrntt-
as accurately as by a sun-dial. It is true, he
Poor Rip was at last reduced almost- to des
pair, and his only alternative to escape from the
labor of the farm and the clamour of his wife
was to take gun in hand,, and stroH away into
the woods. ! Here he would sometimes seat him
self at the foot of a tree, and share the contents
of1 his wallet with Wolf, with whom he symp
thized as a fellow-sufferer in persecution. Poor
Wolf," he would say, ' thy mistres leads thee a
dog's life of it ; but never mind, my lad, whilst
I live thou shall never want a friend to standby
thee !V Wolf ould wag his tail, look wistfully
in his master's face, and if dogs can feel pity, I
verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with
all his heart. " '
In a long ramble of the kind, on a fine autum
nal day, Rip had unconsciously scrambled to
one of , the highest parts of the Kaatskill moun
tains., He was after his favorite sport of squir
rel-shooting, and the still solitudes had echoed
and re-echoed with the reports of . his ( gurt.
Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in
the afternoon, on a green1 knoll covered with
mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a
precipice. From an opening between the trees,
he could overlook all the lower country for ma
ny a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a dis
tance the lordly Hudson, far; far, below him, mo
ving on its silent but majestic course, with the
reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lag
ging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy
bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue high
lands,';1 ;". :" ;-' '.r;:-
On tlie other sid he looked down into a deep
mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the
bottom filled with fragments from the impending
cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays
of theettmglSun
sing on this scene ; evening-was gradually ad
vancing ; the mountains began to throw their
long blue shadows over the valleys; he saw
that it would be dark long before he couldreach
the village; and he heaved a heavy sigh when
he thought of encountering the terrors of Drme
Van Winkle. .'
As he was about to descend, he beard a voice
from a distance, hallooing, Rip, Van. -Winkle!
Rip" Voh AYInU?r- tl ioor&'a'r'eund "him htft
could see nothing butYcrw wiitgin its soliay
flight across the mountain, lie thought his fan
cy must have deceived him, and turned again
to descend, when he heard, the same cry ring
through the still evening air; Rip Van Winkle I
Rip Van Winkle '."at the same tinie Wolf
bristled up his back, and giving a low growl,
skulked to his master's side, looking fearfully
down into the glen. Rip now felt a vague ap
prehension stealing over him : he looked anxious
ly in the same direction, and perceived a strange
figure slowly (oiling up the rocks, and bending
under the weight of something he carried on his
back. He was suprised to see any human be
ing in this lonely and unfrequented place, but
supposing it to be some one of the neighborhood
in need of assistance, he hastened dowu to yield it.
Zi :"Chv nearer a pproacli, he was"
ed at the singularity of the stranger's appearance.
He was a short square-built old fellow, with
thick bushy hair, and agrizzled beard. His dress
was of the antique Dutch fashion a cloth jer
kin strapped round the waist several pair of
breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decor
ated with rows of buttons down the sides, and
bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulders
a stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made
signs for Rip to approach and assist him with 1
the load. Though rather shy and distrustful of
this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his
Usual alacrity, and mutually relieving each other,
been Tepcatcdly requested to loan them to French j would nat do for them ; in a word, Kip was rea
tailors, to make others exactly like- them, as Uj Jy to attend to any body's business but his own;
was impossible otherwise to match them in nice- r . ' ig to joi family duty, and keeping his
Iv of til and in teneral style. A member of the . , .... .
hiisc of Jennmis & Co (No. 231 Broadway,) K m orucr, neou.M.u a..u.u.
t while in Pari" sw lime 30, was iVrqwciitlv In fact, b drclsrrd U was ofl.o ne to work
I
was rarely heard to speak, but smoked his pipe
incessantly. His adherents, however, (for every
great man has his adherents,) perfectly under
stood him, and knew how to gather his opinions.
When any thing that was read or related dis
pleased him, he was observed to smoke his pipe
v chcmenlly, and to scud forth short, frequent,
and angry puffs ; but when pleased, he would
inhale the smoke slowly and tranquilly, and emit
it in light and placid clouds, and somotimes tak
ing the pipe from his mouth, and letting the fra
granLyapmir curlabout his nose, would gravely
nod his head in token of perfect approbation. :
From even this strong hold the unlucky Rip
was at length routed by his termagant wife, who
would suddenly break in upon the tranquillity of
the assemblage, oni' call the members all to
nought ; nor was that august personage, Nichol
as Vedder himself, sacred from the daring ton
gue of this terrible virago; who charged him Out
right with encouraging her husband in habits of
idleness, - !
the dry bed. of a mountain torrent. As they as
cended, Rip every now and then heard long rol
ling peals, like distant thunder, that seemed to is
sue out of a deep ravine, or Tathcr cleft between
lofty rocks, towards which their rugged path con
ducted. He paused for an instant, but supposing
it to be the muttering of one of those transient
thunder-showers which often take place in moun
tain heights, he proceeded. - Passing through
the ravine, they came to hollow, like a small
amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular pre
cipice's, over the brinks of which, impending
trees shot their branches, so that you only Caught
glimpses of the azure sky, and the bright evening
cloud. During tedreimiRipafld-lm
Companion hd labored on in silence ; for though
the former marvelled greatly what could be the
object in carrying, a keg of liquor up tin's wild
mountain, yet there was something strange and
incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspi
red awe, and checked familiarity, -
On entering the1 amphitheatre, new objects of
wonder presented themselves. On a level spot
in the centre was a company of odd-looking per
sonages playing at nine-pins. They were dress
ed in a quainout-landish fashion:, some wore
short doublets, others jerkins, with long knives
iritheif belts, and most of them hadhormous
breeches, of similar style with that of their guide 'e.
Their visages, loo, were peculiar : one had a
large head, broad face, and small, piggish eyes;
the face of another seemed to consist entirely of
nose, and was surmounted by a while sugar-loaf
hat, set CiT wills a 'little red cock's tail. They
all had beards, of various shapes and colours.
There Was one who seemed to be the coin ma n
dcr. He w as a -stout Sid gentlejnan, with ji
weather-beaten courjtcnanco , ncwore a laced
doublet, broad belt and hanger. higfiTrowned har
and feather, red stockings, and high-heclcd shoes,'
'with roses in them. The whole group reminded
Rip of the figures in, on old Flemish painting." iff
the parlour of Dominie Van Schaick. the village
parson, and which had bee'n brought over front
Holland at the time of the settlement. " '(
VVIiat seemed particularly odd to Rip, was",
thatthongh these1 folks were evidently amusing
themselves,' yet they maintained the graves
faces, the most mysterious silence, and weet
withal, the most metancholv nartv of nleasuM
he had ever witnessed. Nothing internirlted the
stillness of the scene but the noise of the balls,
which, whenever they were rolled, echoed along
the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder.
1 As Rip and his companion approached them.
they suddenly desisted from their play, and star
ed at him with such a fixed statue-like gaze, and
such strange, nncouth, lack-lustre countenances.
that his heart turned within him, and his knees
smote together. His companion, now emptied
the contents of the keg into large flagons, and
made signs to him to wait upon the company.
He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaff
ed the liquor in profound silence, and then re
turned to their gameV ;'-V:. J-;---1.; j:.;. j -
Uy degrees, Kip's awe and apprehension sub
sided. . He even ventured, when no eye was
fixed upon him, to tas the beverage, which he
found had much of the flavor of excellent .Hol
lands.-'? lie was naturally a thirsty soul, and was
soon tempted to repeat the draught. : One taste
provoked another, and he reiterated his visits to
the flagon so often, that at length his senses were
overpowered, his eyes swam, his head gradual-
lydeclinedrandhe fell into a"dc ideprT7T -
- On waking he Wand -himself-on the green
knoll from whence he hd first seen the old man
of the glen. He rubbed hisyes it was a bright ?
sunny morning The birds were hopping and
twittering among the bushes, and theNsagle was '
wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain
breeze. " Surely," thought Rip, "I have iiot
slept here all night." , He recalled the occurrences
before he fell asleep. . The .strango. man with
the keg of "Lquori-tha mourifaiawfjiiel-the
wild retreat among the rcks the -wo-begone '
party at nine-pins the flagon " Oh ! that wick
ed flagon !" thought Rip" what excuse shall I
make to Dame Van Winkle ?"
He looked round for his gun, but in place of
the clean well-oiled fowling-piece, he found an
old firelock lying by him, the barrel encrusted
with rust, the lock falling off, and tlie stock worm
eaten. He now suspected that the grave roysters
of the mountain had put a trick upon him, and
having dosed him with liquor, had robbed hint
of his gun. Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he
might have strayed away after a squirrel or part
ridge. He whistled after him, and shouted his
name, but all in Vain ; the echoes repealed his
whistio and shout, but no dog was to be seen.
He determined to revisit the scene of the last
evening's pmltol, and if he Metitlniiry of the
party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose
to walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and
wanting in his usual activity. ;. " These mount
ain beds do not agree with me,V thought Rip,
H and if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of
the rheumatism, 1 shall have a blessed jime with
Si Van Winkle', With soine difliculhe
wn into the glen ; he found tlie.. gu!!ya. up -1
he and his companion had ascended .( the
preceding evening; but to his astorishmenl a
mountain stream was now foaming down it, leap
ing from rock to rock, and filling the glen . with
babbling murmurs. . He, however, made shift tol
they clambered up a narrow gully, apparently cramble up its sids, working his toilsome way
TOrouglKickilts o
hazel ; and sometimes rjpped up or entangled
by the. wild grape vines that twisted their foils
and tendrils from tree to tree, and spread a kind
of network in his path. . . s
At length he reached to where the ravine had
opened through the . cliffs,' to the amphitheatre ;
but no traces of such opening remained. .The
rocks presented a high impenetrable wall, over
which the torrent came tumbling in a sheet of
feathery foam, and fell .into, a broad deep basin,
black fnmi the shadows of the surrounding forest.
Here, then, poor Rip was brought to stand. He
again called and whistled after his dog ; he was
only-anweretLbvJieca wjngofaflock of idle
crows, sporting high in air about a dry tree that
overhung a sunny precipice,; and who, secure in
their elevation, seemed to tfok down -and scon
at the poor man s perplexities.; -What was "be '
doqe I Thi. morning was ; passing away, and
Rip felt famishei for want of his breakfast. He
grieved to give np his dog and gun ; he dreaded
to meet his w ife; but it would 'hot do to starve
among the mountains. He shoofv his head, shoul
dered his rusty fireloc! and, with a. heart Aill of
trouble and anxiety, tnrned his steps homeward.
As ho approached the y illagfvhe met t fiHm
berjof peoplebut none whm he knew which
somewhat surprised him, for he had thought him
self acquainted with every one in the country
round. Their dress, too, was of a different fash
ion from that to which ho was accustomed. They
all stared at him with equal marks of surprise,
and whenever they east eyes tipon him, invariaV.
bly stroked . their chins. The constant recur-,
rence of this gesture, induced Rip, involuntarily,
to do the same., when to hia astonishment, he