Court for twenty-four years; THOMAS MOODY, N. W. WELLS, C BULLOCK, and WM. CUMMINGS.

The climate is favourable to health. Dr. WILLIAM GREENE died at 84; Mr. RICHARD BULLOCK at 95; JOHN DALTON, 80; Mrs. CLEVELAND, 90; Mrs. MARY BULLOCK, 84.

In this county reside many gentlemen of high intellectual and moral character. In the learned professions there are many who occupy elevated positions.

Judge CHRISTOPHER STRONG lived in Macon several years. He was a man of active mind and liberal sentiments. He was favoured with a retentive memory. May the recollection of his virtues be long cherished!

The Rev. SENECA G. BRAGG, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, has a high place in the affections of the citizens. Perhaps there is no man in Georgia who is more beloved than this gentleman. He was rector of the Episcopal Church in Macon for a long period, and by his devotion to the duties of his office, united to his conciliating conduct, gained universal esteem. We have often heard the opinion expressed that Mr. Bragg has not an enemy in the world.

Hon. EUGENIUS A. NESBIT resides in Macon, and we are glad that we have it in our power to give the reader a brief sketch of his life.

This gentleman was the son of Dr. James Nesbit, who emigrated to Georgia from North Carolina, in 1791, and settled in Greene County, where, in a very short period, he became one of the most useful and active citizens. Offices of the highest responsibility were conferred upon him, the duties of which he performed with ability and integrity.

The subject of this memoir was born in the County of Greene, Georgia, on the 7th of December, 1803. His academical education was conducted at Powelton, Hancock County, from whence he was transferred to Columbia College, and continued there until the end of his sophomore year, when he joined the Junior Class in Franklin College, at which institution he was graduated in 1821, with the highest honours of his class.

He commenced his forensic studies under the direction of the Hon. Judge Clayton, and completed them at the celebrated law school in Litchfield, Conn., conducted by Judge Gould.

Upon his return to Georgia he was admitted to the bar by a special act of the Legislature, and established himself in Madison, Morgan County. This portion of the State was included in the Ocmulgee Circuit, and its bar, at the time Mr. Nesbit entered upon his pro fession, was said to be the most able in Georgia, having its rolls illustrated by the names of Early, Cobb, Shorter, Gordon, Longstreet, Lamar, Dawson, and others, and it is certainly a strong evidence in favour of his talents and industry, that notwithstanding such competition, he succeeded in obtaining a lucrative practice.

The citizens of Morgan appreciated the character of Mr. Nesbit,

and elected him a member of the General Assembly for seven terms -four in the House, and three in the Senate. The limits fixed to this sketch will not allow us to comment upon all the various measures proposed and advocated by Mr. Nesbit whilst a member of the Legislature. The journals of both houses show, that uninfluenced by party considerations, he was always ready to support any policy by which the interests of Georgia could be promoted. At the session of 1828 there was much discussion in regard to the Penitentiary. This institution had worked badly, and a proposition was seriously entertained to abolish it. Mr. Nesbit, as Chairman of the Committee to whom this subject had been referred, made an elaborate report in favour of the continuance of the Penitentiary, which was adopted.

In 1830 he took his seat in the Senate, and made his debut in that body by a speech advocating, with much zeal, an increase of the annual appropriation to Franklin College. Our State University has never wanted for efficient friends when her interests were in jeopardy, but we believe we hazard nothing in saying that in devotion to the cause of his "alma mater," there is no person now living who will not award to Mr. Nesbit the praise of standing among the first on the list of her defenders.

He has, indeed, sustained every interest of education and letters. Fond of literature, he is a writer of excellent taste and high cultivation. Although from early life a hard professional worker, he has found time to be an occasional contributor to some of our most popular magazines. He has been invited to deliver addresses upon numerous literary occasions. For example-before the Literary Society of the State University at Commencement; at the Anniversary of the Alumni Society of the University; at the Anniversary of the Georgia Historical Society, &c., &c. He has devoted much time and thought to the cause of Common and Free Schools, and presided over a Convention of Delegates elected by the counties to devise a plan of Common Schools, which convened at Marietta in the summer of 1850, and which was composed of able men from every section of the State.

At the session of 1830 he made a masterly speech in favour of a bill for the establishment of a Supreme Court, in which he replied to the various objections urged against such a measure, and anticipated all the benefits which the State has since realized from that institution. The bill was, however, lost; but so highly was his speech appreciated by his brother Senators, that they requested a copy of it for publication. A Convention met in 1832 for the purpose of considering the reduction and equalization of the representatives in both branches of the Legislature. Of this body Mr. Nesbit was an active member, and participated largely in its discussions. His speech to the Convention was regarded as a brilliant effort, and a copy desired for the press.

In 1836 he was nominated for Congress on the general Whig ticket, which was defeated.

In 1838 he was again nominated for Congress, and was elected,

and in 1840 was re-elected, but from private considerations resigned before the expiration of his term.

When the Supreme Court was established in 1845, he was elected one of the judges, and in 1847 was re-elected, and he is at this time an incumbent of that bench.

Mr. Nesbit, like many of the distinguished men of Georgia, is a professor of religion, having in early life connected himself with the Presbyterian Church, and to his life religion has given a beautiful symmetry and form.*

Miscellaneous.

THE Indian mounds in the vicinity of Macon, on both sides of the river, have always been objects of curiosity to visitors and travellers. The one most noted, called the Large Mound, is on the east side, about half a mile below the bridge; from which, leaving the public road, a smooth carriage road takes you to the foot of the mound, about the eighth of a mile from the river. The face of the country surrounding it is uneven, though having the appearance of being formerly a level plain, and its present unevenness may be in consequence of the overflowing of the river or the lashing of the ocean. The top of the mound is about one hundred and twenty feet above the bed of the river, about one hundred above the ravine on the south, eighty above the plain on the southwest, (between the mound and the river,) and not over thirty above the plain on the north. The shape approaches that of a cone flattened at the top, which contains an area of nearly a quarter of an acre. The sides are covered with large oaks and hickories. From the summit the trees have been removed, and some years since it was tended as a flower-garden. Other mounds, of a smaller size, are near this. One, situated in a secluded, romantic spot, goes by the name of McDougald's Mound, from the circumstance of Captain Robert McDougald being buried here, (by his own request,) while commanding the garrison of Fort Hawkins, about the year 1809. It is a small hillock, thirty feet high. A neat paling, on which many visitors have left their names, incloses the grave on its summit. About thirty-five years ago a brother of Captain McDougald was buried on the same spot.

BROWN'S MOUNT, seven miles below Macon, presents a long high ridge of shellstone, several hundred feet above the bed of the river. The ridge has much the appearance of the oyster reefs off the coast. The whole mass appears one vast conglomeration of sea-shells, the different genera and species of which may be distinctly traced, though some parts are of the hardest flint, and others in various stages of decomposition.

FORT HAWKINS was built for protection against the Indians about the year 1805-6, and was a place of considerable importance during the war of 1812 and

* See Memoir of Judge Nesbit, in Livingston's Sketches of Distinguished Lawyers, from which, with the exception of a few thoughts of our own, the above has been condensed.

the subsequent Indian wars. No garrison has been stationed here, we believe, since 1819, the time of the first settlement of New Town, (now forming part of Macon,) on the east bank of the Ocmulgee, three-quarters of a mile from the fort

BRYAN COUNTY.

THIS County was laid out in 1793; a part taken from Effingham, 1794; and a part set off to Bulloch in 1796.

There are no large towns or villages.

The county site is BRYAN COURT-HOUSE.

Fort Argyle, so called by Oglethorpe, after John, Duke of Argyle, stood upon the west bank of the Ogeechee River; built in 1733, as a defence against the Spaniards.

Hardwick, so called from the Earl of Hardwick, Lord High Chancellor of England, is situated on the south side of the Ogeechee River, fifteen miles from the ocean.

Extract from Census of 1850:-Dwellings, 212; families, 212; white males, 604; white females, 560; free coloured males, 10; free coloured females, 5. Total free population, 1,179; slaves, 2,245. Deaths, 63. 209 farms. Value of real estate, $250,000; value of personal estate, $1,235,400.

SAMUEL STILES, with his brother, B. Stiles, came to this country about 1769, and settled a plantation in what is now called Bryan County. When the Revolutionary War commenced, although his family was in Bermuda, Mr. S. Stiles took part with the Americans. His services to the United States were very valuable. He was engaged, a large portion of his time, in procuring warlike stores and ammunition for the United States, as well as for the State of Georgia. Much of the powder used by the Americans in the Revolution came from Bermuda. It is said that the Bermudians, being in a starving condition, stole the Government powder from the magazines, and sold it for provisions, and that Mr. Stiles was the person who arranged the trade, and carried off the powder. The British Government offered a large reward for the apprehension of the persons engaged in the theft. Mr. Stiles had the honour of being at the siege of Savannah, at which he had a horse shot under him.

The Count D'Estaing made Mr. Stiles liberal propositions to assist him in taking some of the West India Islands, but unavoidable circumstances prevented his acceptance of the offer.