One of Lincoln's Majors.
--Mr. Charles Haynes, editor of the Cahawba Gazette, is good at reminiscences. He brings to light the following incident in the Georgia career of Ben. Perely Poor, who is now the Major of the 2d Massachusetts Regiment. We make a single extract from friend Haynes' article, premising that the scene occurred in 1839:We will commence by saying that we resided at Milledgeville whilst Poors edited the Athens Whig, but he used to visit our city once or twice every year, and we happened to form a slight acquaintance with him. On one of these visits he was accompanied by his father, a gold- spectacled, impertinent sort of middle-aged man. There were not many railroads in those days, so people had to travel mostly in stage coaches. Poors and his father remained in Milledgeville several days and were to leave in the stage on a certain day.
At the appointed time, Poore, junior, took his seat, but Poore, senior, was not on hand. The driver, whose name was Brown (a pockmarked man, and a noted bruiser at that time, who was afterward killed in Macon,) became impatient and drove off without old Poore, but, at the solicitation of young Poore he drove slowly, so the old man might overtake them. At length old Poore over took the coach, just beyond the limits of the town. He came up panting and almost out of breath, as he had been running as fast as he could. He immediately commenced abusing Brown in the most insolent and vehement manner, for presuming to drive off without him. Perhaps the old man came from a region where drivers submitted to such abuse from travelers, but he was then in the wrong latitude and made a mistake, as Brown soon let him know.
The latter kept his seat on the box, but with his long whip, he administered a severe castigation to the father, and then told him to take his seat in the coach and behave like a gentleman! In the meantime, and during the progress of the castigation, the son, Ben. Perley Poore, kept his seat, and if he even opened his mouth in remonstrance, we never heard of it! He did not resent the outrage, for outrage it was to a son, no matter if the father did merit a whipping for his insolence.
Now, we ask any son who reads our paper, if he would sit still and see such an indignity put upon his father, by any man, no matter if he did deserve it? A son that would submit to such a thing ought never to hold his head up again. He would be unworthy the acquaintance of gentlemen or the love of woman.
Reader, this circumstance, as we have related it, is true in every particular, and old citizens of Malledgeville are living who remember it.
