At the suggestion of a friend, whose fine taste selected the following effusion of the celebrated "Ettrick Shepherd," from some of the periodicals of the day, we gladly insert it in our columns. It is a most touching tribute of fraternal affection to an elder sister, from one of the most distinguished bards of modern times.
THERE'S NAE LADDIE COMING.
BY THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD.
| There's nae laddie coming for thee, my dear Jean, There's nae laddie coming for thee, my dear Jean; I hae watch'd thee at mid-day, at morn, an' at e'en, An' there's nae laddie coming for thee, my dear Jean. But be nae down-hearted though lovers gang by, Thou'rt my only sister, thy brother am I; An' aye in my wee house thou welcome shalt be, An' while I hae saxpence, I'll share it wi' thee. O Jeanie, dear Jeanie, when we twa were young, I sat on your knee, to your bosom I clung; You kiss'd me, an' clasp'd me, an' croon'd your bit sang, An' bore me about, when you hardly dought gang. An' when I fell sick, wi' a red watery ee, You watched your wee brother, an' fear'd he wad dee; I felt the cool hand, and the kindly embrace, An' the warm trickling tears drappin aft on my face. Sae wae was my kind heart to see my Jean weep, I closed my sick ee, though I wasna asleep; An' I'll never forget till the day that I dee, The gratitude due, my dear Jeanie, to thee! Then be nae down-hearted, for nae lad can feel Sic true love as I do, or ken you sae weel; My heart it yearns o'er thee, and grieved wad I be If aught were to part my dear Jeanie an' me. |
For the Southern Literary Messenger.
REMARKS ON THE REVIEW OF GOVERNOR TAZEWELL'S REPORT.
MR. WHITE:—I have just read the Review of Governor Tazewell's Report to the Legislature, upon the subject of a Deaf and Dumb Asylum, in your last number, and am sorry to find that, amongst many things which I like, it contains some misstatements which, I think, do great injustice to that document, and to its author; and which I must therefore beg leave to correct.
In the first place, in noticing that part of the paper in which the Governor argues that as the last census shews that the whole number of deaf mutes in our State is only about four hundred and twenty-two, and the experience of other States, particularly Pennsylvania and Connecticut, has proved that only one-fifteenth of the whole number in any community can be drawn to such an institution, it is fair to conclude that the actual number of pupils who could be drawn to our asylum would not exceed twenty-eight; the Reviewer remarks that the Governor "seems to have founded his argument upon the supposition that the deaf and dumb pupils to be educated at the proposed asylum in Virginia, are to be maintained from their own resources, or the private liberality of their friends; whereas the very object of applying for legislative aid, is to enable many of these indigent children of misfortune to obtain instruction at the public expense." But this is obviously a misapprehension of the document; for the Governor says expressly in a passage quoted by the Reviewer himself, "the question seems to be resolved into this,—Can the Legislature reasonably promise itself, that by the employment of any means which it ought to use, it may concentrate at any point within this State sufficient inducements to draw thither the proper number of such pupils?" But it is quite apparent that among the "any means," and "sufficient inducements," which he was here speaking of, he included a provision for the support of indigent pupils, as a matter of course. Indeed, the very object of the establishment, as the Reviewer himself remarks, implies the propriety of such a provision, and the whole tenor of the Report accordingly takes it for granted throughout.