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diff --git a/57433-0.txt b/57433-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c16589 --- /dev/null +++ b/57433-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7330 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57433 *** + + + + + + + + +THE SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER: + +DEVOTED TO EVERY DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. + + +Au gré de nos desirs bien plus qu'au gré des vents. + _Crebillon's Electre_. + +As _we_ will, and not as the winds will. + + +RICHMOND: +T. W. WHITE, PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR. +1834-5. + + + + +SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER. + +VOL. I.] RICHMOND, MARCH 1835. [NO. 7. + +T. W. WHITE, PRINTER AND PROPRIETOR. FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM. + + + + +The _Publisher_ regrets that the learned and interesting discourse of +Professor Tucker on the "Progress of Philosophy," delivered before the +Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society at its last meeting, +could not appear in the present number without dividing it. It shall +certainly appear in the April number _entire_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY + +And Present Condition of Tripoli, with some accounts of the other +Barbary States. + +No. V. + + +On the arrival of Commodore Barron in the Mediterranean, he as senior +captain, superseded Preble in the command of the American forces in +that sea. The determined manner in which the war had been prosecuted +by the latter officer, and the many acts of gallantry which had +distinguished the period of his direction, caused his withdrawal to be +universally regretted; and the more so, as Barron was at that time +laboring under a disease of the liver, which disqualified him for +exertions, and indeed soon after obliged him to retire from active +duty. Preble returned to the United States, where he was received with +every mark of respect by the government and by his fellow-citizens in +general; leaving under Barron's command, six frigates, four brigs, two +schooners, a sloop of war and eight gunboats, which mounted in all +three hundred and twenty-six guns. The season was however too far +advanced to admit of farther operations against Tripoli; ships were +stationed off the harbor sufficient to maintain a blockade, the others +passed the winter in cruising or lying at Malta and the Sicilian +ports. + +It has been stated that Mr. Cathcart was appointed to succeed Eaton as +Consul of the United States at Tunis, with instructions to obtain a +peace with Tripoli, even on condition of paying for it, should it be +otherwise impossible; but he was soon after removed, his place as +Consul being supplied by George Davis. The power to negotiate was +given to Tobias Lear, a gentleman who had been private secretary to +President Washington, and afterwards an agent of the American +Government in Saint Domingo, and who was sent in 1803 to reside at +Algiers, as Consul General for the Barbary States. Mr. Lear was +instructed to join Commodore Barron, in order to treat for peace with +Tripoli, which it was hoped "might be effected without any price or +pecuniary compensation whatever; but should adverse circumstances, of +which he could best judge, and which were not foreseen, render the +campaign abortive, and a pecuniary sacrifice preferable to a +protraction of the war," he was authorised, _in the last instance and +in that only_, "to agree to the payment of twenty thousand dollars +immediately, and of an annual tribute of eight or ten thousand more, +for peace." "For the ransom of the prisoners, _if ransom should be +unavoidable_, he might stipulate a sum not exceeding five hundred +dollars for each man, including officers," the Tripoline prisoners +being however exchanged for an equal number of Americans; but "this +rate of ransom was not to be yielded, without such a change in +affairs, by accident to the squadron, or by other powers joining +against the United States, as was very unlikely to happen;" and it was +to be borne in mind, that this sum, "connected with terms otherwise +favorable, was the voluntary offer of the Pasha[1] to Captain Preble +in January, 1804." The Commodore was at liberty to avail himself of +Hamet's co-operation, "if he should judge that it might prove useful; +to engage which, as well as to render it the more effectual, he had +discretionary authority to grant him pecuniary or other subsidies, not +exceeding twenty thousand dollars; but the less reliance was placed +upon his aid, as the force under the orders of the Commodore was +deemed sufficient for any exercise of coercion, which the obstinacy of +the Pasha might demand." The power to negotiate was confided to Mr. +Lear in the first instance, as Commissioner of the United States for +that purpose; in case of accident, it was to devolve upon the acting +Commodore of the squadron. + +[Footnote 1: A mistake; no such proposition was made by the Pasha; of +this there are many proofs; it is sufficient however to quote Preble's +own words in his despatch of September 18th, 1804, in which, speaking +of the Pasha's offer of the 10th of August, to terminate the war on +payment by the Americans of five hundred dollars for each prisoner, he +says that "it was 350,000 dollars less than was demanded previous to +the bombardment of the 3d of the same month."] + +These instructions bear the stamp of that extreme cautiousness and +uncertainty with regard to the employment of decisive measures, which +characterized the government of the United States at that period. A +force is sent, deemed adequate for any exercise of coercion which may +be required, without recourse to a Pretender from whose alliance, a +considerable accession of moral influence might have been fairly +expected; yet in anticipation of adverse events, or of circumstances +not then foreseen, a civil agent is vested with authority to purchase +a humiliating peace. It is doubtless proper in all cases, to provide +for possible mishaps, particularly where the scene of action is far +distant; but in this instance, it is difficult to conceive that any +occurrences should render necessary a total abandonment by the United +States, of principles, for the support of which so large an armament +had been prepared; and there were the less grounds for such +anticipations, as it was believed, though erroneously, that the Pasha +had already offered terms much more favorable than those to which the +agent was authorised in the end to agree. It must be observed however, +that these instructions were issued on the 6th of June, 1804, at which +period Preble's spirited attacks had not been made, and the +proceedings of the American forces in the Mediterranean had, with one +or two exceptions, been remarkable only for their inefficiency or +their disastrous results. + +Having received these orders, Mr. Lear quitted Algiers, and joined +Barron off Tripoli; they both soon after retired to Malta, which they +considered the most convenient place, either for carrying on +negotiations with Tripoli, or for directing the operations of the +ships. On the 28th of December, 1804, a letter reached them from Don +G. J. de Sousa, Spanish Consul at Tripoli, in which he stated, that at +a late audience the Pasha had expressed his willingness to make peace +with the Americans, provided they would come forward on proper +grounds, but had added, "that their proposals had hitherto been +extravagant and inadmissible, not only from the trifling amount of +money offered, but also from their having sought to compel their +acceptance by force of arms, a method by which they would never +succeed." The Consul then suggested, that Mr. Lear should himself +appear before the city with a flag of truce, and treat directly with +the Pasha, "whom means would be found _sub rosa_, to dispose for a +peace on terms appropriate and suitable for both parties." He +concluded by tendering his own good offices in the affair, requesting +however, that for the present, the utmost secrecy might be observed +with regard to this communication. + +Notwithstanding the last injunction, many circumstances conspired to +induce a belief that the letter had been written under Yusuf's +directions, in order to discover the temper and disposition of the +Americans. In truth, the general character of the Spanish Consul was +by no means respectable; he was known to be closely connected with the +Pasha, and it had even been suspected, that to his influence or agency +the war with the United States was chiefly to be attributed. In +addition to this, no communications had been received from Yusuf since +his last proposition to Preble, after the bombardment in August; nor +indeed was any thing known respecting his strength, or the effects +which had been produced by the attacks made during the preceding +summer. It was therefore difficult to judge what "would be appropriate +and suitable for both parties;" and the Spanish Consul's _sub rosa_ +means of disposing the Pasha to such terms, were very naturally +mistrusted. For these reasons, and from an expectation that more +direct offers would soon be made, it was determined that no answer +should be given to the letter immediately. + +Of Eaton, no news was received by the Commodore from the period of his +departure for Egypt, until the return of the Argus from Alexandria, on +the 10th of March, 1805. She brought despatches from him, containing +information of the means pursued to communicate with Hamet, of their +successful issue, of the Convention about to be made with the Prince, +and of their projected expedition to Derne, in aid of which he +intreated that supplies of money, provisions and ammunition might be +sent to Bomba, and if possible, a detachment of one hundred marines. +In the brig came also Mahumed Mezaluna, an old Moor, who had been +Hamet's secretary, and who now appeared as his accredited agent to +solicit assistance. + +Barron had however, by this time become very doubtful as to the +propriety of acting in concert with the exile, and he moreover feared, +that he had already exceeded his own authority, in the instructions +which he had given to Eaton on parting. The information conveyed by +the despatches, particularly as regarded the Convention, increased his +uneasiness, as he was led to apprehend that Eaton had acted even +beyond the limits of those instructions, and had entered into +engagements "incompatable with the ideas and intentions of their +government, or with the authority vested in himself." Indeed, +independently of the evident disinclination of the government to act +in concert with Hamet, and the smallness of the sum allowed for the +purpose, absolute engagements to place him on the throne of Tripoli, +might have produced the most serious consequences to the Americans. +The enterprise, in order to be effective, would have been necessarily +attended with a great expenditure of funds, for which indemnification +could not have been reasonably expected, in whatever way or however +pointedly it may have been stipulated: by its failure the insolence of +the Barbary States would have been increased, and additional +encouragement have been given to the exactions of their Sovereigns; +and even if completely successful, the advantages to be derived by the +United States were by no means evident. The ruler of every country, +however unrestrained his authority may be, must in his policy take +into consideration, the habits and the prejudices of his people; few +have succeeded by acting without reference to both, and fewer still +have lived to witness any important change wrought in either through +their own efforts. The Tripolines were bigoted Mahometans, and piracy +was among them an ancient and most honorable calling; the +establishment of Hamet by the aid of Christians, and his engagement to +remain at peace with them, without immediate compensation or the +promise of tribute, would certainly render him unpopular with his own +subjects, and excite against him the enmity of the other Barbary +powers. To overcome such difficulties, the Prince would have neither +the courage nor the means; and it could hardly be anticipated, that +when once on the throne of Tripoli he would risk its possession, by +pursuing a course at variance with the wishes of his people, and the +requisitions of the adjoining Sovereigns, merely from gratitude to the +Americans, or from respect for engagements made to them in the days of +his adversity. + +The probability of obtaining beneficial results through Hamet's +co-operation, or indeed from any offensive measures against Tripoli, +had always been doubted by Bainbridge; and his opinion certainly +merited attention, for although imprisoned, yet he had sufficient +intercourse with the foreign consuls and other residents of the town, +to enable him to judge of the Pasha's strength and of the dispositions +of the inhabitants with regard to the two brothers. By letters +received from him, about the time of the arrival of the Argus, he +repeated his conviction that the establishment of the exiled Prince in +Tripoli, was not possible, from the weakness of his character the +contempt in which he was held by the people, his want of resources and +the force which Yusuf was capable of employing against him; and that +if the liberation of the American prisoners were made to depend upon +that measure, it would be better to leave them to their fate, than to +squander lives and treasure in so futile an attempt. He acknowledged +that he had been mistaken in the ideas he had entertained of the +Pasha's strength, and of the effects to be produced on the place by +naval operations only; that the damage occasioned by Preble's attacks, +had been slight as the houses were miserably built and almost +destitute of furniture; and that although the blockade had occasioned +embarrassments to the mercantile class and somewhat straitened Yusuf's +means, yet he would be able to hold out a long time, and be disposed +to suffer any extremity rather than surrender his prisoners without +ransom. + +The situation in which those prisoners might be placed by Hamet's +marching against Tripoli, was also to be considered. Although the +utmost precaution was adopted to conceal the object of Eaton's mission +to Egypt, it was soon made known to Yusuf, by an Italian who was his +agent at Malta. It gave him much alarm, but with his usual energy he +prepared to meet the consequences, by sending such troops as he could +spare to reinforce those under the Beys of his frontier provinces. He +likewise despatched an agent to Alexandria, to intreat the Viceroy not +to allow his brother to quit the country; but Eaton had been already +joined by the Prince, and had so completely secured the favor of the +Turkish authorities, that this attempt to defeat the plan proved +fruitless. Yusuf had however, a strong security for his throne, at +least so far as regarded any danger from the forces of the Americans; +for he held in his power three hundred and seven of their +fellow-citizens, whose lives he well knew would be considered +infinitely more valuable than any advantages which could be derived +from his expulsion. With this view, he declared that he should +consider them as hostages for the conduct of their government, and +that any attempts made in favor of his brother, might prove fatal to +them. Information of his intentions was conveyed to Barron in January, +by a letter from Bainbridge, which he concludes by saying: "The Pasha +is very attentive to your transactions with his brother at Alexandria; +a force is going against Derne. Give me leave to tell you, I have +found your plan with the Pasha's brother very vast, and that _you +sacrifice the lives of the prisoners here in case of success_." Other +notices of the same purport were received; and the determined violence +of Yusuf's disposition was too well known, to leave a doubt that in +the last extremity, he might be inclined thus to wreak his vengeance +on the unfortunate captives. Until such extremity however, no fears +were to be entertained with regard to them, as their existence was +evidently most important to the Pasha. + +Considerations of this nature made a deep impression upon Barron, and +induced him to view the cause in which Eaton had embarked, in a most +unfavorable light; honor and policy, however, forbade the immediate +abandonment of Hamet. The Argus and Hornet were therefore laden with +ammunition and stores for the supply of the expedition, and despatched +to Bomba, where their opportune arrival and the assistance rendered by +them at Derne have been already noticed. A letter was also carried by +the Argus from Barron to Eaton, in which after applauding his courage +and perseverance, he represents to him "that their Government in +consenting to act in concert with Hamet, did not contemplate the +measure as leading necessarily and absolutely to his establishment in +Tripoli, but as a means which, provided there existed energy in the +exiled Prince, and attachment to his person on the parts of his former +subjects, might be employed to the common furtherance and advantage of +his claims and the American cause; that if he possessed these +qualities, and had sufficient interest with the people, he might after +getting possession of Derne and Bengazi, move on with firm steps, and +conduct his followers to the gates of the capital, in aid of which, +operations would be prosecuted with vigor by the squadron, as soon as +the season would permit." He declared, however, that "he must withhold +his sanction from any convention or engagement, tending to impress +upon Hamet, the idea that the Americans had bound themselves to place +him on the throne," such engagements being unauthorized and +inexpedient, particularly taking into view, the situation in which +Bainbridge and their other captive countrymen might be placed by this +co-operation: that he should not suffer any convention with the +Prince, to interfere with that "perfect and uncontrolled power of +choice and action, in concluding a pacification with the Pasha, which +it was important under such circumstances to preserve;" and "that +honorable and advantageous terms being once offered, and accepted by +the representative of government appointed to treat for peace, all +support to Hamet must necessarily cease." The request for a detachment +of marines could not be complied with, "as the services of all would +be required on board their respective ships." The confused and indeed +contradictory injunctions contained in this letter, mark the utmost +indecision in the mind of the writer, and were calculated only to +puzzle the person to whom they were directed. He is discouraged from +prosecuting the enterprise in which he had engaged, while he is at the +same time assured, that the utmost assistance will be afforded to its +advancement by the squadron. A few days after the sailing of the Argus +and Hornet, the Nautilus was also sent to Derne, with additional +supplies and some cannon, which proved serviceable in the attacks on +that place. + +About the same time a small vessel being sent to Tripoli by the +Commodore with clothing and other necessaries for the prisoners, Mr. +Lear wrote to the Spanish Consul thanking him politely for his +communication and his offers, but assuring him at the same time, that +as the Pasha had rejected several propositions for terminating the +war, no others would be made on the part of the United States; and +that the armed force, which was then considerable, would be employed +with vigor against Tripoli as soon as the season would permit; in the +mean while however, any proposition from the Pasha, tending to the +establishment of peace on honorable terms, would receive due +consideration. The vessel on its return, (April 21,) brought a second +letter from the Spanish Consul conveying a direct proposition from +Yusuf, to terminate the war and surrender the prisoners, on condition +that the Americans should pay him two hundred thousand dollars and +restore the Tripolines who had fallen into their hands, with all their +property. The Consul added, that he considered this offer as only +intended to form the basis of a negotiation, for which he again urged +Mr. Lear to come to Tripoli, assuring him that he would be received +with respect and remain in safety. This proposition was considered +inadmissible; it was however important, as giving evidence of the +Pasha's disposition, and the American negotiators, under the +persuasion that it would soon be followed by others of a more +acceptable nature, very prudently remained silent. + +Other letters giving assurances of the Pasha's desire to make peace, +were received at the same time, from persons, whose characters and +situations gave the utmost weight to their opinions. Bainbridge and +his unfortunate companions had borne their fate with so much manly +fortitude, as to interest in their behalf, not only several of the +most respectable foreign residents in Tripoli, but also the minister +of foreign affairs Mahomet D'Ghies, who has been previously mentioned, +as a worthy and intelligent person. This minister being himself +engaged in extensive mercantile transactions, was naturally anxious +for the termination of a war by which the commerce of the place was +almost destroyed; but independently of this consideration, the +accounts of Bainbridge and of all who have subsequently known him, +warrant the belief that he was actuated by motives of real benevolence +in his endeavors to procure peace, and in the steps taken by him to +mitigate the severity which his dark-souled master was disposed to +exercise towards the captive Americans. He had already made several +attempts to communicate with Preble, in order to induce him to treat +with the Pasha, on condition of paying ransom for the prisoners; but +the difficulties of transmission and the precautions which he was +obliged to adopt to prevent discovery, had caused them all to fail. +The state of his health had become such, as to require his absence +from Tripoli during the ensuing summer, and he was most anxious that +peace might be made before that time, as he was well aware of the +force of the Americans, and of the advantages which Hamet would have +from their assistance; he may have also entertained fears that the +desperate determination of Yusuf might lead him to the accomplishment +of his fatal threats against the prisoners. He therefore resolved to +make another effort, and knowing the views and inclinations of the +Pasha with regard to peace, he conferred with Bainbridge on the +subject, as also with Mr. Nissen the Danish Consul, a man of the +highest respectability who had been uniformly the friend of the +Americans. In consequence of arrangements between them, Mr. Nissen +wrote to the Commodore on the 18th of March, in the name of Mahomet +D'Ghies; recommending him to take measures for treating with the +Pasha, and proposing to that effect, that he should send some one duly +authorized and instructed to Tripoli, for whose perfect inviolability +during his stay the strongest guaranties would be given; he considered +this plan as much more likely to lead to a speedy and satisfactory +conclusion, than a negotiation carried on by correspondence, or +through a Tripoline agent on board the squadron. This letter was +accompanied by others from Bainbridge urging an immediate acquiescence +in the plan proposed, the result of which he believed would be as +favorable to the Americans, as they could expect; he had no doubt that +the ransom of the prisoners might be effected for a hundred and twenty +thousand dollars, and that their liberation could never be obtained +without paying for it, unless large land forces were employed; +concluding by an assurance, that no Tripoline would ever consider a +farthing, as paid for the Pasha's friendship, after what had been +already experienced from the Americans. + +These communications were not received until late in April; they were +then accompanied by another of more recent date from Bainbridge, +enclosing a copy of one which had been sent him by Mahomet D'Ghies; in +the latter, the minister states that the Pasha had just heard of his +brother's being _with_ the American squadron, (a report probably +occasioned by the arrival of Hamet's agent at Malta) and had in +consequence manifested the strongest resentment; saying that "as long +as the war was a war of interest, it might easily be brought to a +conclusion by some sacrifice on one side or the other; but that it was +now directed against himself and for his dethronement, and he would +act in a manner, by which the feelings of the United States, should be +hurt in the most tender point which he had the means of reaching." The +minister concluded by intreating, that the Commodore might be made +fully aware of the difficulties attending any negotiation, while he +was at all in relations with Hamet. The French Consul also confirmed +the account of the Pasha's irritation, and of the danger in which the +captives were placed. The letters were all forwarded by Captain +Rodgers, who commanded the ships blockading the harbor of Tripoli; +this officer being acquainted with their contents, wrote at the same +time to Mr. Lear, (April 18) strongly dissuading him from meeting the +advances of the Pasha, "until he had been rendered more sensible of +the force of the Americans, and of their capacity to use it," and +insisting that if an attack were made within six weeks, under proper +regulations, peace might be concluded on terms perfectly honorable and +advantageous to the United States. + +On the 11th of May, the Hornet arrived from Derne, bringing accounts +from Eaton of the capture of that place, and of all the occurrences +since leaving Egypt, with a reply at length to Barron's letter of +March 22d. He represented that the measures had been eminently +successful; Hamet was in possession of the most valuable province of +Tripoli, his enemies were retreating, and the supply of some funds +with a few regular troops to give effect to operations requiring +energy, would enable him without doubt soon to appear at the gates of +the City. He had however been much discouraged by the Commodore's +declaration, that all support to the Prince must cease, if the terms +which the Pasha might offer, should be accepted; he was convinced that +terms would be offered as soon as Yusuf entertained serious +apprehensions for his safety, but he considered it incumbent on the +United States, in case they were accepted, and it should be determined +to withdraw all aid from Hamet, to place him in a situation at least +as good as that from which he had been drawn, and out of the reach of +his vindictive brother. He expressed his opinion that Derne should not +be abandoned, nor peace made precipitately, as the navy might thus be +crushed and the national honor receive a heavy blow. + +The result of all these communications, was a determination on the +parts of the Commander of the forces, and the Consul General, to +abandon the co-operation with Hamet and to enter into a negotiation +with Yusuf. Barron considered the moment the most favorable for +concluding peace, on advantageous terms, as the capture of Derne must +doubtless have produced a powerful effect on the Pasha's mind; and +although discarding the idea of yielding any point of national honor +or advantage, to obtain the liberation of the prisoners, he yet +contended that "the lives of so many valuable and estimable Americans +should not be sacrificed to abstract points of honor." Mr. Lear in +reply, conceived it his duty, "to open and bring to a happy issue, a +negotiation for peace consistent with the tenor of their instructions, +whenever the Commander of the American naval forces in the +Mediterranean should judge the occasion proper and favorable;" he +would therefore at once proceed to Tripoli for the purpose; he _could +not however believe that any impression favorable to the United States +had been made on Yusuf, by the measures in concert with his brother, +unless the bravery and perseverance of the Americans at Derne, had +given him a proof of what might be done against him without extraneous +aid_. + +Preparations were instantly made to carry both these resolutions into +effect. The Hornet was sent back to Derne with despatches notifying +Eaton of the projected negotiation, directing him at the same time +explicitly to inform Hamet, that all supplies of arms and money were +at an end, and he must trust entirely to his own resources and +exertions; that as he was now "_in possession of the most valuable +province of Tripoli_," and at the post from which he was driven when +he first solicited the assistance of the United States, all had been +done for him which he had a right to expect; but that endeavors would +be made to stipulate some conditions in his favor, provided they could +be obtained "without any considerable sacrifice of national +advantage." Eaton and his companions were not indeed directly ordered +to retire from Hamet's service, but the expressions of the letter +conveyed a hint that they were expected to do so which could not be +mistaken; in addition to which, Captain Hull, who commanded the ships +at Derne, was required to proceed with them immediately to Tripoli. + +The necessary arrangements being also made for carrying Mr. Lear to +Tripoli, he sailed in the Essex frigate for that place, off which he +arrived on the 26th of May. He bore with him a letter from Barron to +Rodgers, resigning to the latter the command of the American forces in +the Mediterranean, a station which, as he said, "the languor of +sickness, and consequent mental as well as bodily inactivity, +prevented him from filling any longer, with approbation to himself, or +with advantage to the service." Some remarks are here necessary. + +Commodore Barron had arrived in the Mediterranean, affected with a +disease which universally weakens the mental powers of those who are +subject to it; in his case we have the evidence of his officers, that +during the whole winter and spring, he had been "disqualified from +transacting any business, his mind being so mach impaired, that he +scarcely recollected what transpired from one day to another; and on +applications being made to him for instructions, he would lose the +recollection of what passed in the course of conversation." It was +also generally believed by the officers in the Mediterranean, "that +Mr. Lear had a great ascendancy over the Commodore in all his measures +relative to the squadron." For merely exercising such an ascendancy, +Mr. Lear cannot certainly be blamed; nor can it be imputed as a fault +to Barron, that in his situation it should have existed; he had been +intrusted with an important command, which he wished to retain, +particularly as he was much better acquainted with the views and +wishes of his government, than the officer who would succeed him in +case of his resignation could possibly have been. Under these +circumstances it was natural, that being himself aware of his +debilitated state, he should have looked for counsel and assistance to +one in whom their government had manifested such implicit confidence. +Respecting the course to be pursued with Tripoli, Mr. Lear in all his +despatches and recorded conversations, had advocated the propriety of +strong measures, for which he considered the forces of the United +States alone as perfectly adequate. To the plan of co-operation with +Hamet, he had been from the first opposed, pronouncing it visionary +and impracticable; he insisted that Yusuf might be compelled to accede +to honorable terms without any extraneous assistance whatever, and +"that more reliance might be placed on a peace with him if well beaten +into it, than with his brother, if placed on the throne by the aid of +the Americans." When the accounts arrived of Eaton's junction with +Hamet, and their projected expedition from Egypt, he declared his +conviction openly that it would prove fruitless, and "that they with +their adherents, would be sacrificed before reaching Derne." For these +opinions there were certainly strong grounds; but knowing as he did, +that Yusuf had manifested the utmost uneasiness ever since he had been +informed of his brother's intended expedition, how could Mr. Lear have +supposed that no impression favorable to the United States had been +made on him, by the capture of Derne and the defeat of his army? We +have certainly a right here to suspect the existence of prejudice or +of personal feeling, or of too great a disinclination to acknowledge +the erroneousness of previous assertions. That "a deep impression had +in reality been made on the Pasha by the heroic bravery of the few +Americans at Derne, and by the idea that the United States had a large +force and immense supplies at that place," he indeed afterwards +admitted, and endeavored from thence to make an arrangement favorable +to Hamet. From the terms of Rodgers's letter already quoted, it +appears that he was by no means desirous to negotiate until the Pasha +should have been humbled; and he declares in another letter, that he +never had entertained any apprehensions for the lives of the +prisoners. It is therefore possible, that had not Barron before his +relinquishment, taken such decided steps with regard to the +abandonment of Hamet's cause, and (at least apparently) induced Mr. +Lear to enter upon the negotiation with Yusuf, those measures might +have met with some opposition from Rodgers, which delicacy under the +actual circumstances forbade. + +The Spanish Consul boarded the Essex immediately on her arrival off +Tripoli; Mr. Lear informed him that he had come at the Pasha's request +to treat for peace, but that the terms which had been already proposed +through him were inadmissible, and that unless they were put aside +entirely, no progress could be made in the affair. The Consul returned +to Tripoli, and came on board again on the 29th, bringing a commission +from the Pasha to treat on the principal points of accommodation; +Yusuf relinquished all demands of payment for peace, and offered to +restore the prisoners for a hundred and thirty thousand dollars, the +Tripolines in the hands of the Americans being given up gratis. Mr. +Lear replied by other propositions, which were--that the prisoners +should be restored on both sides, the Americans immediately, the +Tripolines as soon as they could be brought from America and Sicily +where they then were; that as the Americans exceeded the Tripolines in +number by about two hundred, the sum of sixty thousand dollars would +be paid as ransom for the balance in favor of the Pasha; and that a +treaty of peace should then be made on mutually honorable and +beneficial terms. After some difficulties, Yusuf agreed to these +propositions, except that he refused to give up his prisoners until +the Tripolines were ready to be delivered to him in return for them. + +This was probably only a pretence to gain time. Indeed, within the +preceding year, the question between the United States and Tripoli had +been materially changed. The Americans had appeared in such force in +the Mediterranean, that they could no longer be regarded as +supplicants for peace, and the great object was to obtain the +liberation of their captive fellow-citizens; on the other hand, the +Pasha had suffered so much from the blockade and the expenses of the +war, that he was desirous to have it terminated on as good terms as he +could obtain. Hamet's success at Derne had much increased his anxiety, +and knowing that it was entirely due to the assistance of the +Americans, he was determined not to give up the advantages he +possessed by means of the prisoners, without securing in return the +withdrawal of this important aid from his brother's cause; for this +reason he wished to have the treaty of peace made before the execution +of any other measures. As to the restoration of his own subjects who +were in the hands of the Americans, he was entirely indifferent; often +declaring when exchange was proposed, "that he would not give an +orange apiece for them." + +On the 1st of June, Bainbridge came on board, under guaranty of +Mahomet D'Ghies and the Danish Consul. He assured Mr. Lear that Yusuf +would not consent to surrender the prisoners, until a treaty of peace +were made. As the objects of the Americans were to obtain the +liberation of their countrymen and security for their commerce and +navigation in future, it was not worth while to oppose this, and +Bainbridge was directed to inform the Pasha, that if the terms +proposed were accepted, a negotiation would be immediately entered +into for a treaty, with any proper person duly authorized by him, but +that no farther communication would be held with the Spanish Consul. +Yusuf upon this accordingly commissioned Mr. Nissen to confer with Mr. +Lear on the terms of the treaty; instructing him specially to have an +article inserted, stipulating that the American forces should be +withdrawn from Derne, and that efforts would be used to persuade Hamet +to leave the Tripoline dominions. This stipulation was agreed to by +Mr. Lear, who, however insisted that the Prince's family, who still +remained in the Pasha's hands, should be restored to him. Yusuf +objected and the negotiation was almost at a stand; at this crisis the +Nautilus arrived from Malta, bringing notices of Eaton's farther +successes at Derne, and also information of the arrival of additional +forces from the United States. Rodgers here expressed his anxiety to +try the effect of farther offensive operations against him; but Mr. +Lear "would not suffer the business to be broken off and leave his +countrymen longer in slavery," and therefore consented that _time +should be allowed for the delivery of Hamet's family_. The +difficulties between him and the Pasha were then removed and the +preliminaries were assented to by both parties. Mr. Lear landed +directly after, and on the 4th of June 1805, corresponding with the +6th of the first month of Rabbia of the year of the Hegira 1220, a +_Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States of America and +the Pasha, Bey and subjects of Tripoline Barbary_, was signed at +Tripoli. + +By this treaty, firm and inviolable peace and sincere friendship was +to exist between the two nations; the prisoners were to be returned on +each side, sixty thousand dollars being paid by the Americans for the +difference in number against them; the forces of the United States, in +hostility against the Pasha at Derne or elsewhere in his dominions, +were to be withdrawn, and no supplies to be given by the Americans +during the continuance of the peace, to any of his subjects who may be +in rebellion against him; the Americans were to use all means in their +power to persuade Hamet to retire from the Tripoline territory, but +they were to use no force or improper means to that effect, and in +case he should thus retire, the Pasha was to deliver up to him his +wife and children. The stipulations respecting commerce and +navigation, the rights of citizens and of consuls of either party in +the territories of the other, the assistance to be given to stranded +vessels, the protection to be afforded to vessels pursued by an enemy, +&c. were placed on the most equal footing; and it was moreover +declared, that in case a war should hereafter break out between the +two parties, the prisoners taken on either side should not be made +slaves, but should be returned at a stated ransom. This provision was +at least harmless, and it held out inducements to humane conduct. + +The American prisoners were sent on board the squadron, immediately +after the signing of the treaty, and the Constitution frigate was sent +to Malta and Syracuse for the money to be paid as ransom and the +Tripolines. The American flag was again hoisted in the town, a Consul +was installed, and the inhabitants testified their pleasure on the +termination of a war by which they had so severely suffered. + +This pacification has proved most advantageous for the Americans; no +tribute has been since paid by them to Tripoli, nor has any infraction +of the treaty been made either by the government, or the subjects of +that regency, without full indemnification having been promptly +obtained for it. The Pasha has indeed always appeared ready to do or +to submit to any thing, rather than have another war with the United +States. There is however every reason to suppose that the peace might +have been made on terms more honorable to the Americans; and it is +difficult to conceive what proper motives could have induced their +commissioner, to offer a sum of money as ransom for the prisoners, +with so strong a force at his disposal, and with the finest province +of the Tripoline dominions actually in the hands of his countrymen. +The proposition must certainly have surprised Yusuf, who had up to +that moment received from him nothing but expressions of a fixed +determination to seek peace only at the cannon's mouth. + +Although it was expected that the information conveyed by the Hornet +would have induced Eaton and the other Americans to evacuate Derne, +still it was thought proper to despatch the frigate Constellation to +that place, with accounts of the peace which had been concluded; it +carried also one of Yusuf's officers, who was empowered to proclaim a +general amnesty, and her captain was instructed to receive Hamet and +his immediate followers on board, should they choose to accompany him. + +The communications previously received by the Hornet had prepared +Eaton for these results; and he had instantly made known to Hamet the +critical state in which his affairs were placed; the poor Prince very +naturally exclaimed, that "to abandon him then, was to co-operate not +with him, but with his brother"--and seeing that it would be +impossible for him to prosecute the war, after the withdrawal of the +American forces, he prepared to leave Derne with them whenever they +should go. Eaton, however, could not bear "to strike the flag of his +country in presence of an enemy, who had not merited the triumph, and +to see the unbounded confidence placed by the inhabitants in the +American character, sink into contempt and eternal hatred;" he had, +therefore, resolved not to give up the advantages already obtained at +Derne, and carefully concealing his apprehensions, continued to pursue +the measures best calculated to advance the success of the enterprise. +In this determination he seems to have been seconded by Captain Hull, +and the other officers of the ships on the station, who had been +induced by the declarations of Commodore Barron and Mr. Lear, to +expect that an opportunity would have been afforded them in the +approaching season to chastise the insolence of the Pasha, and fully +establish the reputation of the Americans in the Mediterranean. + +The Constellation arrived off Derne on the 11th of June, and it being +at once supposed that she brought supplies and troops in aid of Hamet, +the hopes of his partizans were excited to the highest pitch, while +the Tripolines were so much dismayed, that they broke up their camp in +haste, and retreated to the distance of fifteen miles from the town. +When Eaton had examined the despatches brought by her, he saw at once +that it would be a nice and difficult task to embark the Christians +with Hamet and his followers in safety, as the inhabitants would place +but little confidence in the Pasha's amnesty, and might be disposed to +sacrifice their lives in revenge for this apparent desertion. He +therefore took measures to conceal the real state of affairs; he +ordered the troops to be inspected, distributed ammunition and +rations, and sent off spies as if in anticipation of an attack. At +night, patroles were placed to cut off all communication between the +battery near the sea, which was occupied by the Christians and the +town; the Constellation's boats came to the wharf, and the Christians, +to their great astonishment, were all embarked and rowed off to the +frigate, except the Americans. A message was then sent to Hamet, +requesting an interview; he understood what was meant and instantly +came with his retinue; they entered the boats, which had by that time +returned, the Americans followed, and last of all went Eaton, just in +time to escape the soldiery and inhabitants, who learning what was +going on, rushed in distraction to the beach. Finding themselves +deserted by those who had led them to take up arms against their +tyrannical master, their rage burst forth in execrations against Hamet +and his infidel friends. In the morning, the Tripoline agent landed +and proclaimed amnesty to those who would return to their allegiance; +but the place was already nearly deserted; the Arabs had plundered it +of all that could be carried away and retreated to the mountains, +accompanied by many of the inhabitants; those who remained rejected +the terms of pardon offered them, and prepared to defend themselves to +the last from the tops of their houses. What was their fate we have +been unable to learn. At noon, on the 13th of June, Eaton writes, "In +a few minutes, we shall lose sight of this deserted city, which has +experienced as strange a reverse in as short a time, as ever recorded +in the disasters of war." The Constellation arrived in a few days at +Syracuse, where the men who had served with Eaton at Derne were paid +off. The whole expenses of the expedition amounted to about forty +thousand dollars. + +A few words will suffice to trace the subsequent history of Hamet. It +has been stated that provision was made in the treaty of June 4th, for +the restoration of his family; but when he demanded them, his brother +refused to comply or to give him any assistance whatever. He had been +aided by Eaton, and by the orders of the Commodore of the squadron, he +received two hundred dollars per month for the support of himself, and +fifteen or twenty dependants in Syracuse. Two thousand four hundred +dollars were afterwards appropriated by Congress, for his "immediate +and temporary relief." The American Consul at Tripoli was also +instructed to require the delivery of his family; he did so, but in +reply a paper was exhibited, which proved to be a secret article +signed in due form by Mr. Lear, on the day after the conclusion of the +treaty, by which it was stipulated, that Yusuf should not be required +to give up his brother's wife and children, until the expiration of +four years, during which, Hamet was to evince his peaceful +disposition, and his determination not to disturb the tranquillity of +the Tripoline dominions. Of this article, no copy, and indeed no +notice whatever, had been transmitted by Mr. Lear to his Government; +whether from miscarriage or from other causes is not ascertained. The +Consul was however ordered to urge the delivery of the family by the +Pasha, and to endeavor to obtain some arrangements for their support +and that of Hamet. This was at length effected through the aid of +Mahomet D'Ghies; and on the 25th of October, 1807, his wife and +children arrived at Syracuse in an American sloop of war, with the +exception of one of the daughters, who had married the Bey Mahomet, +Yusuf's eldest son; an offer was also made by the Pasha, to settle a +handsome allowance on his brother, provided he would establish his +residence in Morocco. This Hamet positively refused, demanding at +least the restoration of his former governments of Derne and Bengazi; +after some difficulties Yusuf consented to his demand, and he went to +Derne in 1809, where he passed the remainder of his life in quiet, as +Bey of the two Eastern Provinces. Eaton immediately resigned his +situation as navy agent, and returned to the United States, where he +was universally received with interest and attention; but never +recovered his equanimity; he had been as he conceived, disappointed in +the opportunity of distinguishing himself, and moreover unjustly +robbed of his share in the credit of reducing the Pasha to terms. His +natural irritability was increased, and he was on many occasions +tempted to assert his claims, in a manner which savored of +boastfulness. His own peaceful country offered no field for the +display of his peculiar talents; he had no taste for the quiet +occupations of the farm, or for the petty intrigues and wordy war of +politics; he tried both and failed. He became involved in pecuniary +embarrassments, his spirits deserted him, and he sought for +consolation in the bowl. Those who knew him only at this period, +represent him as an intemperate disagreeable vain-glorious man, and +the few friends who followed him to the grave in June 1811, had reason +to regret that he had not died earlier. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +ANECDOTES OF PATRICK HENRY. + +_From the Manuscripts of the late David Meade Randolph_. + + +The birth of party spirit has been variously conjectured: the result +of the Richmond Convention for the adoption of the Federal +Constitution, was one of its imputed parents. In the evening of the +day of the final vote, General Meade and Mr. Cabell assembled the +_discontents_ in the old Senate Chamber; and after a partial +organization of the party, a deputation was sent to Patrick Henry +inviting him to take the chair. The venerated patriot accepted. +Understanding that it was their purpose to concert a plan of +resistance to the operations of the Federal Government, he addressed +the meeting with his accustomed animation upon important occasions; +observing, "he had done his duty strenuously, in opposing the +Constitution, in the _proper place_,--and with all the powers he +possessed. The question had been fully discussed and settled, and, +that as true and faithful republicans, they had all better go home! +They should cherish it, and give it fair play--support it too, in +order that the federal administration might be left to the +untrammelled and free exercise of its functions:" reproving, moreover, +the half suppressed factious spirit which he perceived had well nigh +broken out. The impressive arguments of Mr. Henry produced the +gratifying effect he had hoped for. + + * * * * * + +The purity of Henry's republicanism was such, as when dining with his +brother Col. John Syme, at the Rocky Mills, during a May session of +the Circuit Court held by Judge Iredell in Richmond, the company, +composed of very respectable characters of both parties--'THE PEOPLE' +as the first toast, upon removing the cloth, was pronounced very +audibly by the host. Mr. Henry pushing his old black wig aside, as was +his custom when much excited;--and, with _elbows akimbo!_ exclaimed, +"What--brother, not drink GENERAL WASHINGTON? as we used to do!--for +shame brother, for shame;"--and filled up his glass with a bumper of +Thomson's Madeira, announcing the name of WASHINGTON. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +YOUNG ROSALIE LEE. + + + I love to forget Ambition + And Hope, in the mingled thought + Of valley and wood and meadow, + Where whilome my spirit caught + Affection's holiest breathings; + Where, under the skies, with me + Young Rosalie roved--aye drinking + From Joy's bright Castaly. + + I think of the valley and river, + The old wood bright with blossoms; + Of the pure and chastened gladness + Upspringing in our bosoms; + I think of the lonely turtle + So tongued with melancholy; + And the hue of the drooping moonlight, + And the starlight pure and holy! + + Of the beat of a heart most tender; + The sigh of a shell-tinct lip, + As soft as the land tones, wandering + Far leagues, over ocean deep; + Of a step, as light in its falling, + On the breast of the beaded lea, + As the fall of the fairy moonlight, + On the leaf of yon tulip tree. + + I think of these and the murmur + Of bird and katadyd, + Whose home is the grave yard cypress, + Whose goblet the honey-reed; + And then I weep! for Rosalie + Has gone to her early rest; + And the green-lipped reed and the daisy, + Suck sweets from her maiden breast. + +L. L. + +_Winchester, Va._ + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +STRAY LEAVES. + + + See'st thou yon withered tree, + Which stretches towards the sea, + Its long and ghastly arms-- + Does it not say to thee, + How speedily shall flee, + Thy now so envied charms. + + That forehead high + In the dust shall lie, + And that soft dark eye + Shall be shrivelled and dry; + And those pearly teeth, + Shall be trodden beneath, + The foot of the idle passer-by. + + * * * * * + + Change the subject, change the measure, + Sing not of death--let life and pleasure + Be the theme of Poet's lay; + Our earth contains full many a treasure-- + Let us seek them while we may. + + Fill the glass with yellow juice, + Of Rhine's old banks, the rich produce; + Or let the ruby claret flow, + Or Portugal's dark streams unloose-- + They all bring joy and banish woe. + + Let not woman enter here, + Woman brings but pain and care, + Woman smiles but to deceive, + In woman's tears let none believe. + + Love is folly--fill the glass, + In mirth and glee, the hours we'll pass. + The smiling vine alone is true, + The grape's pure tears none ever rue. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +BERENICE--A TALE. + +BY EDGAR A. POE. + + +Misery is manifold. The wretchedness of earth is multiform. +Overreaching the wide horizon like the rainbow, its hues are as +various as the hues of that arch, as distinct too, yet as intimately +blended. Overreaching the wide horizon like the rainbow! How is it +that from Beauty I have derived a type of unloveliness?--from the +covenant of Peace a simile of sorrow? But thus is it. And as, in +ethics, Evil is a consequence of Good, so, in fact, out of Joy is +sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of to-day, +or the agonies which _are_, have their origin in the ecstasies which +_might have been_. I have a tale to tell in its own essence rife with +horror--I would suppress it were it not a record more of feelings than +of facts. + +My baptismal name is Egæus--that of my family I will not mention. Yet +there are no towers in the land more time-honored than my gloomy, +grey, hereditary halls. Our line has been called a race of +visionaries: and in many striking particulars--in the character of the +family mansion--in the frescos of the chief saloon--in the tapestries +of the dormitories--in the chiseling of some buttresses in the +armory--but more especially in the gallery of antique paintings--in +the fashion of the library chamber--and, lastly, in the very peculiar +nature of the library's contents, there is more than sufficient +evidence to warrant the belief. + +The recollections of my earliest years are connected with that +chamber, and with its volumes--of which latter I will say no more. +Here died my mother. Herein was I born. But it is mere idleness to say +that I had not lived before--that the soul has no previous existence. +You deny it. Let us not argue the matter. Convinced myself I seek not +to convince. There is, however, a remembrance of ærial forms--of +spiritual and meaning eyes--of sounds musical yet sad--a remembrance +which will not be excluded: a memory like a shadow, vague, variable, +indefinite, unsteady--and like a shadow too, in the impossibility of +my getting rid of it, while the sunlight of my reason shall exist. + +In that chamber was I born. Thus awaking, as it were, from the long +night of what seemed, but was not, nonentity at once into the very +regions of fairy land--into a palace of imagination--into the wild +dominions of monastic thought and erudition--it is not singular that I +gazed around me with a startled and ardent eye--that I loitered away +my boyhood in books, and dissipated my youth in reverie--but it _is_ +singular that as years rolled away, and the noon of manhood found me +still in the mansion of my fathers--it is wonderful what stagnation +there fell upon the springs of my life--wonderful how total an +inversion took place in the character of my common thoughts. The +realities of the world affected me as visions, and as visions only, +while the wild ideas of the land of dreams became, in turn,--not the +material of my every-day existence--but in very deed that existence +utterly and solely in itself. + + * * * * * + +Berenice and I were cousins, and we grew up together in my paternal +halls--Yet differently we grew. I ill of health and buried in +gloom--she agile, graceful, and overflowing with energy. Hers the +ramble on the hill side--mine the studies of the cloister. I living +within my own heart, and addicted body and soul to the most intense +and painful meditation--she roaming carelessly through life with no +thought of the shadows in her path, or the silent flight of the +raven-winged hours. Berenice!--I call upon her name--Berenice!--and +from the grey ruins of memory a thousand tumultuous recollections are +startled at the sound! Ah! vividly is her image before me now, as in +the early days of her light-heartedness and joy! Oh! gorgeous yet +fantastic beauty! Oh! Sylph amid the shrubberies of Arnheim!--Oh! +Naiad among her fountains!--and then--then all is mystery and terror, +and a tale which should not be told. Disease--a fatal disease--fell +like the Simoom upon her frame, and, even while I gazed upon her, the +spirit of change swept over her, pervading her mind, her habits, and +her character, and, in a manner the most subtle and terrible, +disturbing even the very identity of her person! Alas! the destroyer +came and went, and the victim--where was she? I knew her not--or knew +her no longer as Berenice. + +Among the numerous train of maladies, superinduced by that fatal and +primary one which effected a revolution of so horrible a kind in the +moral and physical being of my cousin, may be mentioned as the most +distressing and obstinate in its nature, a species of epilepsy not +unfrequently terminating in _trance_ itself--trance very nearly +resembling positive dissolution, and from which her manner of recovery +was, in most instances, startingly abrupt. In the meantime my own +disease--for I have been told that I should call it by no other +appellation--my own disease, then, grew rapidly upon me, and, +aggravated in its symptoms by the immoderate use of opium, assumed +finally a monomaniac character of a novel and extraordinary +form--hourly and momentarily gaining vigor--and at length obtaining +over me the most singular and incomprehensible ascendancy. This +monomania--if I must so term it--consisted in a morbid irritability of +the nerves immediately affecting those properties of the mind, in +metaphysical science termed the _attentive_. It is more than probable +that I am not understood--but I fear that it is indeed in no manner +possible to convey to the mind of the merely general reader, an +adequate idea of that nervous _intensity of interest_ with which, in +my case, the powers of meditation (not to speak technically) busied, +and, as it were, buried themselves in the contemplation of even the +most common objects of the universe. + +To muse for long unwearied hours with my attention rivetted to some +frivolous device upon the margin, or in the typography of a book--to +become absorbed for the better part of a summer's day in a quaint +shadow falling aslant upon the tapestry, or upon the floor--to lose +myself for an entire night in watching the steady flame of a lamp, or +the embers of a fire--to dream away whole days over the perfume of a +flower--to repeat monotonously some common word, until the sound, by +dint of frequent repetition, ceased to convey any idea whatever to the +mind--to lose all sense of motion or physical existence in a state of +absolute bodily quiescence long and obstinately persevered in--Such +were a few of the most common and least pernicious vagaries induced by +a condition of the mental faculties, not, indeed, altogether +unparalleled, but certainly bidding defiance to any thing like +analysis or explanation. + +Yet let me not be misapprehended. The undue, intense, and morbid +attention thus excited by objects in their own nature frivolous, must +not be confounded in character with that ruminating propensity common +to all mankind, and more especially indulged in by persons of ardent +imagination. By no means. It was not even, as might be at first +supposed, an extreme condition, or exaggeration of such propensity, +but primarily and essentially distinct and different. In the one +instance the dreamer, or enthusiast, being interested by an object +usually _not_ frivolous, imperceptibly loses sight of this object in a +wilderness of deductions and suggestions issuing therefrom, until, at +the conclusion of a day-dream _often replete with luxury_, he finds +the _incitamentum_ or first cause of his musings utterly vanished and +forgotten. In my case the primary object was _invariably frivolous_, +although assuming, through the medium of my distempered vision, a +refracted and unreal importance. Few deductions--if any--were made; +and those few pertinaciously returning in, so to speak, upon the +original object as a centre. The meditations were _never_ pleasurable; +and, at the termination of the reverie, the first cause, so far from +being out of sight, had attained that supernaturally exaggerated +interest which was the prevailing feature of the disease. In a word, +the powers of mind more particularly exercised were, with me, as I +have said before, the _attentive_, and are, with the day-dreamer, the +_speculative_. + +My books, at this epoch, if they did not actually serve to irritate +the disorder, partook, it will be perceived, largely, in their +imaginative, and inconsequential nature, of the characteristic +qualities of the disorder itself. I well remember, among others, the +treatise of the noble Italian Coelius Secundus Curio "_de amplitudine +beati regni Dei_"--St. Austin's great work the "City of God"--and +Tertullian "_de Carne Christi_," in which the unintelligible sentence +"_Mortuus est Dei filius; credibile est quia ineptum est: et sepultus +resurrexit; certum est quia impossibile est_" occupied my undivided +time, for many weeks of laborious and fruitless investigation. + +Thus it will appear that, shaken from its balance only by trivial +things, my reason bore resemblance to that ocean-crag spoken of by +Ptolemy Hephestion, which steadily resisting the attacks of human +violence, and the fiercer fury of the waters and the winds, trembled +only to the touch of the flower called Asphodel. And although, to a +careless thinker, it might appear a matter beyond doubt, that the +fearful alteration produced by her unhappy malady, in the _moral_ +condition of Berenice, would afford me many objects for the exercise +of that intense and morbid meditation whose nature I have been at some +trouble in explaining, yet such was not by any means the case. In the +lucid intervals of my infirmity, her calamity indeed gave me pain, +and, taking deeply to heart that total wreck of her fair and gentle +life, I did not fail to ponder frequently and bitterly upon the +wonder-working means by which so strange a revolution had been so +suddenly brought to pass. But these reflections partook not of the +idiosyncrasy of my disease, and were such as would have occurred, +under similar circumstances, to the ordinary mass of mankind. True to +its own character, my disorder revelled in the less important but more +startling changes wrought in the _physical_ frame of Berenice, and in +the singular and most appalling distortion of her personal identity. + +During the brightest days of her unparalleled beauty, most surely I +had never loved her. In the strange anomaly of my existence, feelings, +with me, _had never been_ of the heart, and my passions _always were_ +of the mind. Through the grey of the early morning--among the +trellissed shadows of the forest at noon-day--and in the silence of my +library at night, she had flitted by my eyes, and I had seen her--not +as the living and breathing Berenice, but as the Berenice of a +dream--not as a being of the earth--earthly--but as the abstraction of +such a being--not as a thing to admire, but to analyze--not as an +object of love, but as the theme of the most abstruse although +desultory speculation. And _now_--now I shuddered in her presence, and +grew pale at her approach; yet, bitterly lamenting her fallen and +desolate condition, I knew that she had loved me long, and, in an evil +moment, I spoke to her of marriage. + +And at length the period of our nuptials was approaching, when, upon +an afternoon in the winter of the year, one of those unseasonably +warm, calm, and misty days which are the nurse of the beautiful +Halcyon,[1] I sat, and sat, as I thought alone, in the inner apartment +of the library. But uplifting my eyes Berenice stood before me. + +[Footnote 1: For as Jove, during the winter season, gives twice seven +days of warmth, men have called this clement and temperate time the +nurse of the beautiful Halcyon.--_Simonides_.] + +Was it my own excited imagination--or the misty influence of the +atmosphere--or the uncertain twilight of the chamber--or the grey +draperies which fell around her figure--that caused it to loom up in +so unnatural a degree? I could not tell. Perhaps she had grown taller +since her malady. She spoke, however, no word, and I--not for worlds +could I have uttered a syllable. An icy chill ran through my frame; a +sense of insufferable anxiety oppressed me; a consuming curiosity +pervaded my soul; and, sinking back upon the chair, I remained for +some time breathless, and motionless, and with my eyes rivetted upon +her person. Alas! its emaciation was excessive, and not one vestige of +the former being lurked in any single line of the contour. My burning +glances at length fell upon her face. + +The forehead was high, and very pale, and singularly placid; and the +once golden hair fell partially over it, and overshadowed the hollow +temples with ringlets now black as the raven's ring, and jarring +discordantly, in their fantastic character, with the reigning +melancholy of the countenance. The eyes were lifeless, and lustreless, +and I shrunk involuntarily from their glassy stare to the +contemplation of the thin and shrunken lips. They parted: and, in a +smile of peculiar meaning, the teeth of the changed Berenice disclosed +themselves slowly to my view. Would to God that I had never beheld +them, or that, having done so, I had died! + + * * * * * + +The shutting of a door disturbed me, and, looking up, I found my +cousin had departed from the chamber. But from the disordered chamber +of my brain, had not, alas! departed, and would not be driven away, +the white and ghastly _spectrum_ of the teeth. Not a speck upon their +surface--not a shade on their enamel--not a line in their +configuration--not an indenture in their edges--but what that brief +period of her smile had sufficed to brand in upon my memory. I saw +them _now_ even more unequivocally than I beheld them _then_. The +teeth!--the teeth!--they were here, and there, and every where, and +visibly, and palpably before me, long, narrow, and excessively white, +with the pale lips writhing about them, as in the very moment of their +first terrible development. Then came the full fury of my _monomania_, +and I struggled in vain against its strange and irresistible +influence. In the multiplied objects of the external world I had no +thoughts but for the teeth. All other matters and all different +interests became absorbed in their single contemplation. They--they +alone were present to the mental eye, and they, in their sole +individuality, became the essence of my mental life. I held them in +every light--I turned them in every attitude. I surveyed their +characteristics--I dwelt upon their peculiarities--I pondered upon +their conformation--I mused upon the alteration in their nature--and +shuddered as I assigned to them in imagination a sensitive and +sentient power, and even when unassisted by the lips, a capability of +moral expression. Of Mad'selle Sallé it has been said, "_que tous ses +pas etaient des sentiments_," and of Berenice I more seriously +believed _que tous ses dents etaient des idées_. + +And the evening closed in upon me thus--and then the darkness came, +and tarried, and went--and the day again dawned--and the mists of a +second night were now gathering around--and still I sat motionless in +that solitary room, and still I sat buried in meditation, and still +the _phantasma_ of the teeth maintained its terrible ascendancy as, +with the most vivid and hideous distinctness, it floated about amid +the changing lights and shadows of the chamber. At length there broke +forcibly in upon my dreams a wild cry as of horror and dismay; and +thereunto, after a pause, succeeded the sound of troubled voices +intermingled with many low moanings of sorrow, or of pain. I arose +hurriedly from my seat, and, throwing open one of the doors of the +library, there stood out in the antechamber a servant maiden, all in +tears, and she told me that Berenice was--no more. Seized with an +epileptic fit she had fallen dead in the early morning, and now, at +the closing in of the night, the grave was ready for its tenant, and +all the preparations for the burial were completed. + +With a heart full of grief, yet reluctantly, and oppressed with awe, I +made my way to the bed-chamber of the departed. The room was large, +and very dark, and at every step within its gloomy precincts I +encountered the paraphernalia of the grave. The coffin, so a menial +told me, lay surrounded by the curtains of yonder bed, and in that +coffin, he whisperingly assured me, was all that remained of Berenice. +Who was it asked me would I not look upon the corpse? I had seen the +lips of no one move, yet the question had been demanded, and the echo +of the syllables still lingered in the room. It was impossible to +refuse; and with a sense of suffocation I dragged myself to the side +of the bed. Gently I uplifted the sable draperies of the curtains. + +As I let them fall they descended upon my shoulders, and shutting me +thus out from the living, enclosed me in the strictest communion with +the deceased. + +The very atmosphere was redolent of death. The peculiar smell of the +coffin sickened me; and I fancied a deleterious odor was already +exhaling from the body. I would have given worlds to escape--to fly +from the pernicious influence of mortality--to breathe once again the +pure air of the eternal heavens. But I had no longer the power to +move--my knees tottered beneath me--and I remained rooted to the spot, +and gazing upon the frightful length of the rigid body as it lay +outstretched in the dark coffin without a lid. + +God of heaven!--is it possible? Is it my brain that reels--or was it +indeed the finger of the enshrouded dead that stirred in the white +cerement that bound it? Frozen with unutterable awe I slowly raised my +eyes to the countenance of the corpse. There had been a band around +the jaws, but, I know not how, it was broken asunder. The livid lips +were wreathed into a species of smile, and, through the enveloping +gloom, once again there glared upon me in too palpable reality, the +white and glistening, and ghastly teeth of Berenice. I sprang +convulsively from the bed, and, uttering no word, rushed forth a +maniac from that apartment of triple horror, and mystery, and death. + + * * * * * + +I found myself again sitting in the library, and again sitting there +alone. It seemed that I had newly awakened from a confused and +exciting dream. I knew that it was now midnight, and I was well aware +that since the setting of the sun Berenice had been interred. But of +that dreary period which had intervened I had no positive, at least no +definite comprehension. Yet its memory was rife with horror--horror +more horrible from being vague, and terror more terrible from +ambiguity. It was a fearful page in the record of my existence, +written all over with dim, and hideous, and unintelligible +recollections. I strived to decypher them, but in vain--while ever and +anon, like the spirit of a departed sound, the shrill and piercing +shriek of a female voice seemed to be ringing in my ears. I had done a +deed--what was it? And the echoes of the chamber answered me "what was +it?" + +On the table beside me burned a lamp, and near it lay a little box of +ebony. It was a box of no remarkable character, and I had seen it +frequently before, it being the property of the family physician; but +how came it _there_ upon my table, and why did I shudder in regarding +it? These were things in no manner to be accounted for, and my eyes at +length dropped to the open pages of a book, and to a sentence +underscored therein. The words were the singular, but simple words of +the poet Ebn Zaiat. "_Dicebant mihi sodales si sepulchrum amicæ +visitarem curas meas aliquantulum fore levatas._"[2] Why then, as I +perused them, did the hairs of my head erect themselves on end, and +the blood of my body congeal within my veins? + +[Footnote 2: My companions told me I might find some little +alleviation of my misery, in visiting the grave of my beloved.] + +There came a light tap at the library door, and, pale as the tenant of +a tomb, a menial entered upon tiptoe. His looks were wild with terror, +and he spoke to me in a voice tremulous, husky, and very low. What +said he?--some broken sentences I heard. He told of a wild cry heard +in the silence of the night--of the gathering together of the +household--of a search in the direction of the sound--and then his +tones grew thrillingly distinct as he whispered me of a violated +grave--of a disfigured body discovered upon its margin--a body +enshrouded, yet still breathing, still palpitating, still alive! + +He pointed to my garments--they were muddy and clotted with gore. I +spoke not, and he took me gently by the hand--but it was indented with +the impress of human nails. He directed my attention to some object +against the wall--I looked at it for some minutes--it was a spade. +With a shriek I bounded to the table, and grasped the ebony box that +lay upon it. But I could not force it open, and in my tremor it +slipped from out my hands, and fell heavily, and burst into pieces, +and from it, with a rattling sound, there rolled out some instruments +of dental surgery, intermingled with many white and glistening +substances that were scattered to and fro about the floor. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +EXTRACT + +From the Reminiscences of a Western Traveller. + + +"I presume," said I, "that having so long resided in Kentucky, you +must have had some acquaintance with Indian warfare." + +"I had no occasion," he replied, "to come to Kentucky to learn that. I +may say, that I have had something to do with it all my life, and it +had to do with me before I was born." + +The speaker was a tall, handsome man, uncommonly stout, with an +appearance of great strength, perfect health, and a quiet good humor, +which disposed him to be communicative, merely by way of obliging. +Though by no means garrulous, I had discovered that he was ready to +tell whatever another might be desirous of hearing. He spoke with that +strong accent, and deliberate tone, which characterize the Scotch +Irish race, and which always, to my ear, conveys a promise that what +is said will be said distinctly and clearly. + +Here then was the very man I wanted. I had left the peaceful scenes of +the Atlantic coast, expecting, not indeed to "roam through anters vast +and deserts wild," in my western tour, (for my maps and gazetteer had +taught me better,) but to find some traces of the scenes, which but a +few years before, had made it dangerous for a white man to set his +foot where we now rode along securely. My eye had eagerly scanned +every object which afforded promise of food to my young and eager +imagination; but as yet I had found none. The soft beauty and +exuberant fertility of the country, need only the touch of +civilization to take from it every appearance of wildness, and I could +hardly bring myself to believe that it had been so lately the haunt of +the prowling savage. My enthusiasm was consequently much damped; but +it was not extinguished, and these last words of my companion blew it +into a flame. A well directed question soon drew him out. + +"I was born," said he, "among the mountains of Virginia. I never saw +my father. He was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant, just before +I came into the world. That is the reason why I said that Indian +fighting had to do with me before I was born. But that was not all; +many years before that, the Indians made a break on our settlement, +and carried off my oldest brother, and kept him." + +"Did you never see him again?" + +"I suppose I have, but I did not know it at the time." As he said +this, a gloom came over his countenance, which checked my +inquisitiveness, and he rode on, perhaps a mile, in moody silence. At +length his brow cleared, and he again spoke, but in a somewhat +saddened tone. + +"It is something strange; I am not superstitious, and yet it seems to +me, as if at times, when people are in great distress of mind, they +are apt to say things that turn out almost like a prophecy. It was a +great grief to my mother, the loss of her child, and the longer she +lived the more she mourned after him. He was quite small when they +took him; and they carried him away over the lakes, so far, that they +never heard where he was, until he was almost grown up, a perfect wild +man. My mother was a religious woman; and the thought of his being +brought up among savages, where the word of God could never reach him, +went to her heart. She said, it was always borne upon her mind that he +was not dead, and that he would grow up among those vile wretches, to +be the death of his own father, and perhaps to die at last by the hand +of one of his own brothers. When they raised a party to follow the +Indians, she _would_ go with them, and all the way, she said, she +looked and looked, in hopes to see where they had dashed out her poor +child's brains against a tree. It was the only comfort she hoped for, +and that was denied her. + +"As I told you, they never heard of him till he was near or quite a +man; and that was just before Dunmore's war. There was no chance to do +any thing towards getting him home at that time, for it was dangerous +to go near the Ohio. Indeed, all they knew was, that there was a white +man of about his age among the Indians, who answered to his name. It +was not until after the peace that we knew certainly all about him. + +"Well! he was at the battle of the Point, fighting among the +Shawanees; and there my father was killed. When my mother heard that +he had been there, you may be sure her own words came back to her. No +body knew who killed my father. But why not he as well as another? +Flesh and blood could not have made her believe that it was not he. + +"Just after that I was born, and then again my mother took it into her +head that I had come into the world to revenge my father's death. +There was no great comfort in that thought, you may be sure; so as +soon as the war was over, they tried all they could to get my brother +back. He was told that my father was dead, and had left a good estate; +and that he was the heir at law; (for you know that my father died +under the old law,) but it all would not do. He was a complete Indian, +and had an Indian wife and children that he would not leave. But he +had kind feelings for us all, and sent us word to take the estate; for +he wanted nothing but his rifle. + +"Well! my mother died; and I and a brother a little older than me, +sold out and went to Kentucky. Where we settled was a dangerous +frontier near the Ohio, and the Indians once or twice every year, +would come over and strike at us. Then we would raise a party, and +follow them away almost to the lakes; and after we got strong enough, +we commonly kept a smart company ranging about on that side of the +river. Sometimes we volunteered; sometimes we were drafted; sometimes +one went; sometimes another. One year my brother went, and had a fight +with the Indians. Afterwards we heard that our wild brother was in +that fight, and was badly wounded. The next year I went out, and we +had a fight, and my poor brother was there again, and _he was +killed_." + +He ceased speaking, and again sunk into a gloomy silence, which none +of us were disposed to interrupt. At length he said, in a softened +voice, "Thank God! I was spared one thing. I never think of it, that +it does not make the cold chills run over me. It was the night before +the battle. We had been following hard upon the trail all day, and +just before night we came up with them. But we did not let them see +us, and lay back till they had camped for the night. We knew we could +find them in the dark by their fires. Sure enough we soon saw the +light, and crawled towards it. The word was to attack at day light. In +the meantime every man was to keep his eye skinned, and his gun in his +hand, and not to fire on any account till the word was given. But in +this sort of business every man fights, more or less, on his own hook; +and if a fellow only kills an Indian, they never blame him. There they +were, all dead asleep, around their fire; and we standing looking at +them, almost near enough to hear them snore. You may be sure we did +not breathe loud. Well! while I was standing off on one flank, +watching them with all my eyes, up gets one, and stands right between +me and the light. Up came my rifle to my face. It was against orders, +but I never had shot at an Indian, and how could I stand it? My hand +was on the trigger, when the figure turned, and I saw the breasts of a +woman. You may be sure I did not shoot. It was my brother's daughter, +as I afterwards learned." + +This story required no comment. It admitted of none. The ideas it +suggested was such as reason could neither condemn nor justify. We +could only muse on it in silence. At length, the other stranger, who, +like myself, had listened attentively, said, "I too was once within an +ace of shooting a woman." + +I started at this, and turned to reconsider the speaker. I had already +scrutinized him pretty closely, and had formed a judgment concerning +him, which these words quite unsettled. The idea that he had been +familiar with scenes, where every man must make his hand guard his +head, had never entered my mind. He was indeed formidably armed, +carrying a brace of pistols in his belt, and another in his holsters. +The handle of a dirk peeped through the ruffle of his shirt, and a +rifle on his shoulder completed his armament. I had been of course +struck with an equipment so warlike, but attributed it to excess of +caution. The mildness and elegance of his manners had fixed him in my +mind, as one bred up in the scenes of peaceful and polished life, +where, in youth, he had heard so much of the perils of the country he +was now traversing, as to suppose it unsafe to visit it without this +load of weapons. I certainly had never seen a man of more courteous +and gentlemanlike demeanor; and though his countenance gave no token +of one "acquainted with cold fear," I had nevertheless, emphatically +marked him as a man of peace. He was the oldest man in company, but +deferential to all, accommodating, obliging, and, on all occasions, +modestly postponing himself, even to such a boy as I was. He seemed +now to have spoken from a wish to divert the painful thoughts of our +companion, and, in answer to an inquiring look from me, went on with +his story. + +"It was nearly thirty years ago," said he, "I was travelling from +Virginia through the wilderness of Kentucky, then much infested by +Indians. I had one companion, an active, spirited young man, and we +were both well mounted and well armed. Vigilance alone was necessary +to our safety, and as we had both served a regular apprenticeship to +Indian warfare, we were not deficient in that. We soon overtook a +company of moving families, who had united for safety. The convenience +of the axes of the men, in making fires, and of the women in cooking, +determined us to join them. We camped together every night; and as we +derived great advantage from the association, we tried to requite it +by our activity and diligence as scouts and flankers. We commonly rode +some distance ahead, so as to give them time to prepare in case of +attack; depending on our own diligence and skill to guard against +surprise. + +"Riding thus one day, a mile or two in advance, we were suddenly +startled by an outcry from behind, which was not to be mistaken. We +immediately drew up, and presently saw our party hurrying towards us, +in great confusion and alarm, whipping up their teams, and only +stopping long enough to say that they were pursued. The rear was +therefore now our post, and, waiting till they had all passed, we +dismounted,--hid our horses, took trees, and awaited the enemy. I did +not wait long, until I saw the head and shoulders of a figure above +the undergrowth, rushing at full speed towards me. My rifle was at my +cheek, and a steady aim at the advancing figure made me sure of my +mark, when an opening in the brushwood showed me the dress of a +female. She was the wife of one of the wretches who had just passed +us, completely spent and sinking with fatigue. Had there been Indians +she must have perished. As it was, her appearance showed the alarm to +be false; so I took her up behind me, and we went quietly on, in +pursuit of her dastard husband, to whose _protection_ I restored her." + +In speaking these last words, the face of the speaker underwent, for a +moment, a change, which told more than his story. The tone of scornful +irony too, which accompanied the word _protection_, gave a new face to +his character. As I marked the slight flush of his pale and somewhat +withered cheek, the flash of his light blue eye, the curl of his lip, +and a peculiar clashing of his eye-teeth as he spoke; I thought I had +rarely seen a man, with whom it might not be as safe to trifle. + +The day was now far spent; and as the sun descended, we had the +satisfaction to observe that he sank behind a grove, that marked the +course of a small branch of the Wabash, on the bank of which stood the +house where we expected to find food and rest. + +None but a western traveller can understand the entire satisfaction +with which the daintiest child of luxury learns to look forward to the +rude bed and homely fare, which await him, at the end of a hard day's +ride, in the infant settlements. There is commonly a cabin of rough +unhewn logs, containing one large room, where all the culinary +operations of the family are performed, at the huge chimney around +which the guests are ranged. The fastidious, who never wait to be +hungry, may turn up their noses at the thought of being, for an hour +before hand, regaled with the steam of their future meal. But to the +weary and sharp set, there is something highly refreshing to the +spirits and stimulating to the appetite. The dutch oven, well filled +with biscuit, is no sooner discharged of them, than their place is +occupied by sundry slices of bacon, which are immediately followed by +eggs, broken into the hissing lard. In the mean time, a pot of strong +coffee is boiling on a corner of the hearth; the table is covered with +a coarse clean cloth; the butter and cream and honey are on it; and +supper is ready. + + "Then horn for horn they stretch and strive." + +It makes me hungry now to think of it; and I am tempted to take back +my word and eat something, having just told my wife I wanted no +supper. But it will not do. I have not rode fifty miles to-day, and my +table is so trim and my room so snug that I have no appetite. + +But it is only in the first stage of a settlement, that these things +are found. By and by, mine host, having opened a larger farm, builds +him a house, of frame-work or brick, the masonry and carpentry of +which show the rude handy-work of himself and his sons. He now employs +several hands, and the leavings of their dinner will do for the supper +of any chance travellers in the evening. A round deep earthen dish, in +which a bit of fat pork or lean salt beef, crowns a small mound of +cold greens or turnips, with loaf bread baked a month ago, and a tin +can of skimmed milk now form the travellers supper. It is vain to +expostulate. Our host has no fear of competition. He has now located +the whole point of wood land crossed by the road, and no one can come +nearer to him, on either hand, than ten miles. Besides, he is now the +"squire" of the neighborhood, with "eyes severe," and "fair round +belly with _fat bacon_ lined;" and why should not the daily food of a +man of his consequence be good enough for a hungry traveller? + +It was to a house of this latter description that we now came. No one +came out to receive us. Why should they? We took off our own baggage, +and found our way into the house as we might. + +On entering, I was struck with the appearance of the party, as their +figures glimmered through the mingled lights of a dull window and a +dim fire. Each individual, though seated, (and no man moved or bad us +welcome) wore his hat, of shadowy dimensions; a sort of family +resemblance, both in cut and color, ran through the dresses of all; +and a like resemblance in complexion and cast of countenance marked +all but one. This one, as we afterwards found, was the master of the +mansion, a man of massive frame, and fat withal, but whose full +cheeks, instead of the ruddy glow of health, were overcast with an +ashy, dusky, money-loving hue. In the appearance of all the rest there +was something ascetic and mortified. But landlord and guest wore all +one common expression of ostentatious humility and ill-disguised +self-complacency, which so often characterizes those new sects, that +think they have just made some important discoveries in religion. Mine +host was, as it proved, the Gaius of such a church, and his guests +were preachers of the same denomination. I have forgotten the name; +but they were not Quakers. I have been since reminded of them, on +reading the description of the company Julian Peveril found at +Bridgnorth's. + +When we entered, our landlord was talking in a dull, plodding strain, +and in a sort of solemn protecting tone, to his respectfully attentive +guests. Our appearance made no interruption in his discourse; and he +went on, addressing himself mainly to a raw looking youth, whose +wrists and ankles seemed to have grown out of his sleeves and +pantaloons since they were made. Where the light, which this young man +was now thought worthy to diffuse, had broken in upon his own mind, I +did not learn, but I presently discovered that he came from "a little +east of sunrise," and had a curiosity as lively as my own, concerning +the legends of the country. + +"I guess brother P----," said he, "you have been so long in these +parts, that it must have been right scary times when you first came +here." + +"Well! I cannot say," replied the other, "that there has been much +danger in this country, since I came here. But if there was, it was +nothing new to me. I was used to all that in Old Kentuck, thirty years +ago." + +"I should like," said the youth, "to hear something of your early +adventures. I marvel that we should find any satisfaction in turning +from the contemplation of God's peace, to listen to tales of blood and +slaughter. But so it is. The old Adam will have a hankering after the +things of this world." + +"Well!" replied our host, "I have nothing very particular to tell. The +scalping of three Indians, is all I have to brag of. And as to danger; +except having the bark knocked off of my tree into my eyes, by a +bullet, I do not know that I was ever in any mighty danger, but once." + +"And when was that?" + +"Well! It was when we were moving out along the wilderness road. You +see it was mighty ticklish times; so a dozen families of us started +together, and we had regular guards, and scouts, and flankers, just +like an army. The second day after we left Cumberland river, a couple +of young fellows joined us, one by the name of Jones, and I do not +remember the other's name. I suppose they had been living somewhere in +Old Virginia, where they had plenty of slaves to wait on them; and it +went hard with them to make their own fires, and cook their own +victuals; so they were glad enough to fall in with us, and have us and +our women to work and cook for them. But a man was a cash article +there; and they both had fine horses and good guns; and, to hear them +talk, (especially that fellow Jones,) you would have thought, two or +three Indians before breakfast, would not have been a mouthful to +them. We did not think much of them, but we told them, if they would +take their turn in scouting and guarding, they were welcome to join +us." + +At this moment, our landlady, who was busy in a sort of shed, which +adjoined the room we sat in, and served as a kitchen, entered, and +stopping for a moment, heard what was passing. She was a good-looking +woman, of about forty-five, with a meek subdued and broken hearted +cast of countenance. I saw her look at her husband, and as she +listened, her face assumed an expression of timid expostulation, mixed +with that sort of wonderment, with which we regard a thing utterly +unaccountable, but which use has rendered familiar. + +Her lord and master caught the look, and bending his shaggy brow, +said, "I guess the men will want their supper, by the time they get +it." + +She understood the hint, and stole away rebuked; uttering +unconsciously, in a loud sigh, the long hoarded breath which she had +held all the time she listened. Her manner was not intended to attract +notice; but there was something in it, which disposed me to receive +her husband's tale with some grains of allowance. He went on thus: + +"The day we expected to get to the crab-orchard, it was their turn to +bring up the rear. By good rights, they ought to have been a quarter +of a mile or so behind us; and I suppose they were; when, all of a +sudden, we heard the crack of a rifle, and here they come, right +through us, and away they went. I looked round for my woman and I +could not see her. The poor creature was a little behind, and thought +there was no danger, because we all depended on them two fire eaters +in the rear, to take care of stragglers. But when they ran off, you +see, there was nobody between her and the Indians; and the first thing +I saw, was her, running for dear life, and they after her. I set my +triggers, and fixed myself to stop one of them; and just then, her +foot caught in a grape vine, and down she came. I let drive at the +foremost, and dropped him; but the other one ran right on. My gun was +empty; and I had no chance but to put in, and try the butt of it. But +I was not quite fast enough. He was upon her, and had his hand in her +hair; and it was a mercy of God, he did not tomahawk her at once. He +had plenty of time for that;--but he was too keen after the scalp; +and, just as he was getting hold of his knife, I fetched him a clip +that settled him. Just then, I heard a crack or two, and a ball +whistled mighty near me; but, by this time, some of our party had +rallied, and took trees; and that brought the Indians to a stand. So I +put my wife behind a tree, and got one more crack at them; and then +they broke and run. That was the only time I ever thought myself in +any _real_ danger, and that was all along of that Jones and the other +fellow. But they made tracks for the settlement." + +"Have you never seen Jones since?" said the mild voice of the +courteous gentleman I have mentioned. + +"No; I never have; and it's well for him; though, bless the Lord! I +hope I could find in my heart _now_ to forgive him. But if I had ever +come across him, before I met with you, brother B----;" (addressing a +grave senior of the party who received the compliment with +impenetrable gravity;) "I guess it would not have been so well for +him." + +"Do you think you would know him again, if you were to see him?" said +my companion. + +"It's a long time ago," said he, "but I think I should. He was a +mighty fierce little fellow, and had a monstrous blustering way of +talking." + +"Was he any thing like me?" said the stranger, in a low but hissing +tone. + +The man started, and so did we all, and gazed on the querist. In my +life, I never saw such a change in any human face. The pale cheek was +flushed, the calm eye glowed with intolerable fierceness, and every +feature worked with loathing. But he commanded his voice, though the +curl of his lip disclosed the full length of one eye tooth, and he +again said, "look at me. Am not I the man?" + +"I do not know that you are," replied the other doggedly, and trying +in vain to lift his eye to that which glared upon him. "I do not know +that you are?" muttered he. + +"Where is he? where is he," screamed a female voice; "let _me_ see +him. _I'll_ know him, bless his heart! _I'll_ know him any where in +the world." + +Saying this, our landlady rushed into the circle, and stood among us, +while we all rose to our feet. She looked eagerly around. Her eye +rested a moment on the stranger's face; and in the next instant her +arms were about his neck, and her head on his bosom, where she shed a +torrent of tears. + +I need not add, that the subject of the Landlord's tale, was the very +incident which my companion had related on the road. He soon made his +escape, cowed and chop-fallen; and the poor woman bustled about, to +give us the best the house afforded, occasionally wiping her eyes, or +stopping for a moment to gaze mutely and sadly on the generous +stranger, who had protected her when deserted by him who lay in her +bosom. + +The grave brethren looked, as became them, quite scandalized, at this +strange scene. It was therefore promptly explained to them; but the +explanation dissipated nothing of the gloom of their countenances. +Their manner to the poor woman was still cold and displeased, and they +seemed to forget her husband's fault, in their horror at having seen +her throw herself into the arms of a stranger. For my part, I thought +the case of the good Samaritan in point, and could not help believing, +that he who had decided that, would pronounce that her grateful +affection had been bestowed where it was due. + + + + +We are permitted by RICHARD RANDOLPH, ESQ. to publish the following +extract, from a Journal kept by his father, the late _David Meade +Randolph_, when a Student at _William & Mary College_ in 1779 under +the patronage of PROFESSOR ANDREWS. It is a curious anecdote and will +be read with interest. + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTH NIGHT. + + +On the 22d February, 1779, the students of William & Mary College, and +most of the respectable inhabitants of Williamsburg, prepared a +subscription paper for celebrating Washington's birth night; and the +pleasure of presenting it, was confided to _certain students_ +immediately under the patronage of Professor Andrews. + +Governor Henry was first waited on, and offered the paper: he refused +his signature! "_He_ could not think of any kind of rejoicing at a +time when our country was engaged in war, with such gloomy prospects." +Dudley Digges, and Bolling Starke, members of the Council, were both +waited on by the same persons, and received less courteous denials, +and similar excuses. + +The ball, nevertheless, was given at the Raleigh. Colonel Innis, more +prominent than any other member of the association, directed its +proceedings. It was thought proper to enliven the occasion by +discharges of cannon. There were two pieces at the shop of Mr. Moody +that had lately been mounted. There was a Captain commanding a company +of soldiers, under the orders of Governor Henry; but the cannon were +under no other care or authority at the time, than that of Mr. Moody +the mechanic. Colonel Innis, with a party seconded by Colonel Finnie, +brought the two pieces before the door of the Raleigh. On the way from +the shop to the Raleigh, not two hundred yards, Colonel Innis saw +Captain Digges passing up the street. Whilst the party concerned were +collecting powder, and preparing for firing. Lieutenant Vaughan +appeared before the Raleigh with a platoon, demanding possession of +the cannon. He was carried in; took some punch; and said that he was +ordered by Captain Digges to take away the pieces, by force, if they +were not surrendered peaceably. This was refused. Vaughan repeated his +orders: He was prevailed upon to return to his quarters, and report to +Capt. Digges. Captain Digges waited on the Governor, and reported the +state of things; and soliciting instructions how to proceed. The +Governor referred Captain Digges to his own judgment. Captain Digges +went immediately to the _Arena_, where, in the pride of his power, +with sixty men, he drew up in form; and demanded the cannon at the +point of his bayonets! Innis stept up to Captain Digges, and shaking +his cane at him, swore that he would _cane him_, if he did not depart +instantly with his men! This enraging Digges,--he said that if the +pieces were not surrendered, he _would fire upon the party_. Innis +_repeating_ his _threat_,--ordered Finnie to charge the cannon with +_brick bats_: the mob in the street, and the gentlemen of the ball, +re-echoing the order. The pieces were soon charged with brick bats: +Innis all the while firmly standing by the Captain at the head of his +men, _daring him to fire!_ After some delay, the Captain retreated +with his men; and the evening closed with great joy. + +Next day, Innis was arraigned before the Hustings Court, for Riot! +confronted by the valiant Captain Digges. During the proceedings, when +Innis replied to the charge, Digges in the body of the Court, and +Innis in the Bar--among other particulars characteristic of the +Colonel's temper and genius, he swore "it made no odds whether Captain +Digges wore a red coat, or a black coat, he would _cane him!_" The +case was attended with no farther particulars. Innis facing the Court, +and repeating his threats; till at length he was dismissed, and +triumphantly walked out of Court, attended by most of his friends, who +had shared the honors of the preceding night. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +FROM THE DIARY OF A REVOLUTIONARY OFFICER. + +MR. WHITE,--I embrace the opportunity afforded, by the transmission of +my subscription for the "_Messenger_," to furnish you with a small +contribution to the pages of that excellent periodical. Neither +leisure nor ability, at present, allows me to present any original +composition; but I feel confident that nothing I have to offer, could +be more interesting and acceptable to your readers, than the following +extract from the "_Manuscript Diary of a Revolutionary Officer_" which +has recently been placed in my hands. It is expected that the whole +will be transcribed in a _fac simile_ as to style, and so on, and +presented to the Historical Society at an early period. + +The writer was, I believe, a lieutenant in the Southern army. He was a +native and resident of Powhatan county, Virginia, where his +descendants still reside. He was a captain at the taking of +Charleston, South Carolina, and composed the Diary referred to, while +confined by the British as a prisoner of war. The Diary commences with +a statement of the events which led to the surrender of the American +army, and exhibits at length the official correspondence of General +Lincoln and Sir Henry Clinton on the occasion. + +We may admire the devotion and bravery of our forefathers, recount in +terms of poetical exaggeration their heroic achievements, and dwell +with fond recollection on their memories, but we can never form an +accurate idea of their feelings, any correct conception of their +sufferings, or properly estimate our debt of gratitude, until we can +enter more fully into the _minutiæ_ of those events which general +history relates. So long therefore, as it is praiseworthy (and long +may it be so,) to set before our eyes the examples and characters of +revolutionary patriots, will it be interesting to examine such records +as the following. + +Yours, truly. + +*** *** + +_Union Seminary, Pr. Ed. Va. 1835_. + + +SURRENDER OF CHARLESTON. + +[The correspondence and articles of capitulation are omitted.] + + +MAY 12th, 1780. One company of British and one company of Hessian +grenadiers marched in and took possession of the town work. At one +o'clock our garrison were paraded, and at two were marched out with +their drums beating, but we were not allowed to beat a British +march.... after which two regiments of British grenadiers and light +infantry marched in town. The commissary of prisoners, Major Stewart +of the sixty-third regiment, came and got a list of the officers' and +soldiers' names. He then asked for our second line. We told him that +every soldier of our garrison fit for duty, he then saw paraded in +that line. He said "that it was impossible for such a small army to +defend the town and themselves, from ten thousand British troops: you +certainly have more than these." Our answer was, we have not.--Thus an +army of not more than _three thousand troops_, composed of regular +soldiers, militia, sailors and marines, defended our post thirty-one +days, closely besieged _by ten thousand_ British soldiers. The _want +of provisions_ and proper rest, at last obliged us to fall into the +hands of our enemies. Our soldiers were marched into the barrack's +yard, where was a British guard waiting to receive them. The men were +permitted to go out, as many as would ask leave. The officers had +leave to go to their old quarters that evening; accordingly I went to +my bomb proof, and pulled off my clothes. This was the first night for +the space of fifty-five days past, I pulled off my clothes to go in +bed. I went to bed, but could not rest for reflecting on my present +condition of life.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As we do not value our forefathers of the revolution for +their literature end refinement, I transcribe the Diary as I find it, +making only those corrections as to punctuation, which are necessary +to perspicuity.] + +13th. We removed to a house in town, and are allowed to walk the +streets. We are much in want of provisions; almost in a starving +condition. + +15th. We are yet continued in our quarters without one morsel _of +provision allowed us_ since we capitulated. This afternoon we were in +some measure relieved from hunger, by means of a poor sheep a Hessian +was driving by our quarters, that ran round the house and went in our +cellar, and was immediately concealed by some of our waiters. The +Hessian hunted some time for his poor sheep but could not find it, and +we soon made some good hot soup [from the poor sheep]. + +16th. I was invited to breakfast with Mr. Elliot in town. + +17th. [Parole to Haddrel's Point.] "I do hereby acknowledge myself to +be a prisoner of war upon my parole to his Excellency Sir Henry +Clinton, and that I am hereby engaged, until I shall be exchanged or +otherwise released therefrom, to remain at the barracks at Haddrel's +Point, or within six miles thereof, without crossing any river, creek, +or arm of the sea. And that in the mean time, I shall not do, or cause +any thing to be done prejudicial to the success of his Majesty's arms, +or have intercourse with his enemies; and that upon a summons from His +Excellency, or other person having authority, I shall surrender myself +to them, at such time and place as I shall hereafter be required. +Witness my hand." + +18th. We have continued here four days without receiving any supply of +provision, except what we caught from the water. + +JUNE 22d. A flag arrived from North Carolina, for permission to send +supplies to their troops in captivity, which was granted. + + +CELEBRATION OF JULY 4, 1780. + +[With all their discouragements, these unfortunate men were not too +much depressed to celebrate this day. I do not recollect to have seen +any notice of its celebration at a period earlier than this. It is +interesting to see how it was regarded by those who suffered in the +cause it commemorates.] + +JULY 4th. This day was appointed for a general meeting of the officers +at Haddrel's Point, to celebrate the Independency of the Thirteen +United States of America. The following TOASTS were drank on the +occasion: + + 1st. The Free and Sovereign Independent States of America. + + 2d. The Honorable the Continental Congress. + + 3d. His Most Christian Majesty the King of France. + + 4th. His Most Catholic Majesty the King of Spain. + + 5th. May impartial justice guide the other powers of Europe. + + 6th. Stability and firmness to the Alliance between France and + America. + + 7th. Gen. Washington and the American Army. + + 8th. The American Navy. + + 9th. The American Ministry at Foreign Courts. + + 10th. _May the States of America be always found a sure refuge and + an asylum against despotism and oppression._ + + 11th. May the sword never be drawn but in the cause of justice. + + 12th. The immortal memory of those patriots and warriors who have + fallen in the present war, in defence of the rights of + mankind. + + 13th. Our brethren in captivity, suffering in the glorious cause of + liberty. + +From each toast there followed a discharge of _thirteen pistols_ and +three cheers. That night the barracks were illuminated. + +July 5th. The enemy was much exasperated from our yesterday's +transactions. Capt. Roberts of the sixty-third regiment, who commanded +at Fort Arbuthnot, wrote to General Patterson, who commanded in +Charleston, informing him "the rebel officers on Haddrel's Point could +not be satisfied with celebrating _their supposed day_ of independency +by illuminating the barracks, but must fire small arms," which he +thought too great "an indulgence for rebel prisoners," and that we had +been guilty of a breach of our paroles. + +6th. General Patterson wrote to General Moultrie and enclosed Captain +Roberts' letter, ordering a return of the names of the officers who +were at the head of the affair on the 4th instant. Likewise ordering +every pistol in our possession to be sent to Fort Arbuthnot. [After +considerable difficulty, it appears the pistols were given up, but no +names accompanied them. The prisoners were threatened with close +confinement for such behaviour in future. How differently are we +situated!] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +_Copy of a Manuscript written but not published at the period of the +Missouri Question, 1821_. + +JONATHAN BULL AND MARY BULL. + + +Jonathan Bull and Mary Bull who were descendants of Old John Bull, the +head of the family, had inherited contiguous estates in large tracts +of land. As they grew up and became well acquainted, a partiality was +mutually felt, and advances on several occasions made towards a +matrimonial connection. This was particularly recommended by the +advantage of putting their two estates under a common superintendance. +Old Bull however as guardian of both, and having been allowed certain +valuable privileges within the estates, with which he was not long +content, had always found the means of breaking off the match, which +he regarded as a fatal obstacle to his secret design of getting the +whole property into his own hands. + +At a moment favorable as he thought for the attempt, he brought suit +against both, but with a view of carrying it on in a way that would +make the process bear on the parties in such different modes, times +and degrees, as might create a jealousy and discord between them. +Jonathan and Mary had too much sagacity to be duped. They understood +well Old Bull's character and situation. They knew that he was deeply +versed in all the subtleties of the law, that he was of a stubborn and +persevering temper, and that he had moreover a very long purse. They +were sensible therefore that the more he endeavored to divide their +interests, and their defence of the suit, the more they ought to make +a common cause, and proceed in a concert of measures. As this could +best be done by giving effect to the feelings long entertained for +each other, an intermarriage was determined on and solemnized, with a +deed of settlement as usual in such opulent matches, duly executed; +and no event certainly of the sort was ever celebrated by a greater +fervor or variety of rejoicings among the respective tenants of the +parties. They had a great horror of falling into the hands of Old +Bull; and regarded the marriage of their proprietors under whom they +held their freeholds, as the surest mode of warding off the danger. +They were not disappointed. United purses, and good advocates +compelled Old Bull, after a hard struggle, to withdraw the suit, and +relinquish forever, not only the new pretensions he had set up, but +the old privileges he had been allowed. + +The marriage of Jonathan and Mary was not a barren one. On the +contrary every year or two added a new member to the family; and on +such occasions the practice was to set off a portion of land +sufficient for a good farm to be put under the authority of the child +on its attaining the age of manhood; and these lands were settled very +rapidly by tenants going as the case might be from the estates, +sometimes of Jonathan, sometimes of Mary, and sometimes partly from +one and partly from the other. + +It happened that at the expiration of the nonage of the 10th or 11th +fruit of the marriage, some difficulties were started concerning the +rules and conditions, of declaring the young party of age, and of +giving him as a member of the family, the management of his patrimony. +Jonathan became possessed with a notion that an arrangement ought to +be made that would prevent the new farm from being settled and +cultivated, as in all the latter instances, indiscriminately by +persons removing from his and Mary's estate, and confine this +privilege to those going from his own; and in the perverse humor which +had seized him, he listened moreover to suggestions that Mary had some +undue advantage from the selections of the head stewards which +happened to have been made much oftener out of her tenants than his. + +Now the prejudice suddenly taken up by Jonathan against the equal +right of Mary's tenants to remove with their property to new farms, +was connected with a peculiarity in Mary's person not as yet noticed. +Strange as it may appear, the circumstance is not the less true, that +Mary when a child, had unfortunately received from a certain African +dye, a stain on her left arm which had made it perfectly black, and +withal somewhat weaker than the other arm. The misfortune arose from +her being prevailed on to let a ship from Africa, loaded with the +article, enter a river running through her estate, and dispose of a +part of the noxious cargo. The fact was well known to Jonathan at the +time of their marriage; and if felt as an objection, it was in a +manner reduced to nothing by the comely form and pleasing features of +Mary in every other respect; by her good sense and amiable manners; +and in part perhaps by the large and valuable estate she brought with +her. + +In the unlucky fit however which was upon him, he looked at the black +arm, and forgot all the rest. To such a pitch of feeling was he +wrought up, that he broke out into the grossest taunts on Mary for her +misfortune; not omitting at the same time to remind her of his long +forbearance, to exert his superior voice in the appointment of the +head steward. He had now, he said, got his eyes fully opened, he saw +every thing in a new light, and was resolved to act accordingly. As to +the head steward, he would let her see that the appointment was +virtually in his power; and she might take her leave of all chance of +ever having another of her tenants advance to that station. And as to +the black arm, she should, if the color could not be taken out, either +tear off the skin from the flesh, or cut off the limb: For it was his +fixed determination, that one or the other should be done, or he would +sue out a divorce, and there should be an end of all connection +between them and their estates. I have, he said, examined well the +marriage settlement, and flaws have been pointed out to me, that never +occurred before, by which I shall be able to set the whole aside. +White as I am all over, I can no longer consort with one marked with +such a deformity as the blot on your person. + +Mary was so stunned with the language she heard that it was sometime +before she could speak at all; and as the surprise abated, she was +almost choked with the anger and indignation swelling in her bosom. +Generous and placable as her temper was, she had a proud sensibility +to what she thought an unjust and degrading treatment, which did not +permit her to suppress the violence of her first emotions. Her +language accordingly for a moment was such as these emotions prompted. +But her good sense, and her regard for Jonathan, whose qualities as a +good husband she had long experienced, soon gained an ascendancy, and +changed her tone to that of sober reasoning and affectionate +expostulation. Well, my dear husband, you see what a passion you had +put me into. But it is over now, and I will endeavor to express my +thoughts with the calmness and good feelings which become the relation +of wife and husband. + +As to the case of providing for our child just coming of age, I shall +say but little. We both have such a tender regard for him and such a +desire to see him on a level with his brethren as to the chance of +making his fortune in the world, that I am sure the difficulties which +have occurred will in some way or other be got over. + +But I cannot pass so lightly over the reproaches you cast on the color +of my left arm; and on the more frequent appointment of my tenants +than of yours, to the head stewardship of our joint estates. + +Now as to the first point; you seem to have forgotten, my worthy +partner, that this infirmity was fully known to you before our +marriage, and is proved to be so by the deed of settlement itself. At +that time you made no objection whatever to our union; and indeed how +could you urge such an objection, when you were conscious that you +yourself was not entirely free from a like stain on your person. The +fatal African dye, as you well know, had found its way into your abode +as well as mine; and at the time of our marriage, had spots and specks +scattered over your body as black as the skin on my arm. And although +you have by certain abrasions and other applications, taken them in +some measure out, there are visible remains which ought to soften at +least your language when reflecting on my situation. You ought surely, +when you have so slowly and imperfectly relieved yourself from the +mortifying stain, although the task was comparatively so easy, to have +some forbearance and sympathy with me who have a task so much more +difficult to perform. Instead of that you abuse me as if I had brought +the misfortune on myself, and could remove it at will; or as if you +had pointed out a ready way to do it, and I had slighted your advice. +Yet so far is this from being the case, that you know as well as I do, +that I am not to be blamed for the origin of the sad mishap; that I am +as anxious as you can be to get rid of it; that you are as unable as I +am to find out a safe and feasible plan for the purpose; and moreover, +that I have done every thing I could in the mean time, to mitigate an +evil that cannot as yet be removed. When you talk of tearing off the +skin or cutting off the unfortunate limb, must I remind you of what +you cannot be ignorant, that the most skilful surgeons have given +their opinions that if so cruel an operation were to be tried, it +could hardly fail to be followed by a mortification or a bleeding to +death. Let me ask too, whether, should neither of the fatal effects +ensue, you would like me better in my mangled or mutilated condition, +than you do now? And when you threaten a divorce and an annulment of +the marriage settlement, may I not ask whether your estate would not +suffer as much as mine by dissolving the partnership between them? I +am far from denying that I feel the advantage of having the pledge of +your arm, your stronger arm if you please, for the protection of me +and mine; and that my interests in general have been, and must +continue to be the better for your aid and counsel in the management +of them. But on the other hand you must be equally sensible that the +aid of my purse will have its value, in case Old Bull or any other +rich litigious fellow should put us to the expense of another tedious +law suit. And now that we are on the subject of loss and gain, you +will not be offended if I take notice of a report that you sometimes +insinuate, that my estate, according to the rates of assessment, does +not pay its due share into the common purse. I think, my dear +Jonathan, that if you ever entertained this opinion you must have been +led into it, by a very wrong view of the subject. As to the direct +income from rents, there can be no deficiency on my part; the rule of +apportionment being clear and founded on a calculation by numbers. And +as to what is raised from the articles bought and used by my tenants, +it is difficult to conceive that my tenants buy or use less than +yours, considering that they carry a greater amount of crops to +market, the whole of which, it is well known, they lay out in articles +from the use of which the bailiff regularly collects the sum due. It +would seem then that my tenants selling more, buy more; buying more, +use more; and using more, pay more. Meaning, however, not to put you +in the wrong, but myself in the right, I do not push the argument to +that length, because I readily agree that in paying for articles +bought and used, you have beyond the fruits of the soil on which I +depend, ways and means which I have not. You draw chiefly the interest +we jointly pay for the funds we were obliged to borrow for the fees +and costs the suit Old Bull put us to. Your tenants also turn their +hands so ingeniously to a variety of handicraft and other mechanical +productions, that they make not a little money from that source. +Besides all this, you gain much by the fish you catch and carry to +market; by the use of your teams and boats in transporting and trading +on the crops of my tenants; and indeed in doing that sort of business +for strangers also. This is a fair statement on your side of the +account, with the drawback however, that as your tenants are supplied +with a greater proportion of articles, made by themselves, than is the +case with mine, the use of which articles does not contribute to the +common purse, they avoid in the same proportion, the payments +collected from my tenants. If I were to look still further into this +matter and refer you to every advantage you draw from the union of our +persons and property, I might remark, that the profits you make from +your teams and boats, and which enable you to pay your quota, are in +great part drawn from the preference they have in conveying and +disposing of the products of my soil; a business that might fall into +other hands, in the event of our separation. I mention this, as I have +already said, not by way of complaint, for I am well satisfied that +your gain is not altogether my loss in this more than in many other +instances; and that what profits you immediately may profit me also in +the long run. But I will not dwell on these calculations and +comparisons of interest, which you ought to weigh as well as myself, +as reasons against the measure to which you threaten a resort. For +when I consult my own heart, and call to mind all the endearing proofs +you have given of yours being in sympathy with it, I must needs hope +that there are other ties than mere interest, to prevent us from ever +suffering a transient resentment on either side, with or without +cause, to bring on both, all the consequences of a divorce; +consequences too which would be a sad inheritance indeed for our +numerous and beloved offspring. + +As to the other point relative to the head stewards, I must own, my +worthy husband, that I am altogether at a loss for any cause of +dissatisfaction on your part or blame on mine. It is true, as you say, +that they have been oftener taken from among my tenants than yours; +but under other circumstances the reverse might as well have happened. +If the individuals appointed, had made their way to the important +trust, by corrupt or fallacious means; if they had been preferred +merely because they dwelt on my estate, or had succeeded by any +interposition of mine contrary to your inclination; or finally, if +they had administered the trust unfaithfully, sacrificing your +interests to mine, or the interests of both to selfish or unworthy +purposes, in either of these cases, you would have ground for your +complaints. But I know Jonathan that you are too just and too candid +not to admit that no such ground exists. The head stewards in question +could not have been appointed without your own participation as well +as mine. They were recommended to our joint choice by the reputed +fairness of their characters, by their tried fidelity and competency +in previous trusts, and by their exemption from all charges of impure +and grasping designs; and so far were they from being partial to my +interest at the expense of yours, that they were rather considered by +my tenants as leaning to a management more favorable to yours than to +mine. I need not say that I allude to the bounties direct and indirect +to your teams and boats, to the hands employed in your fisheries, and +to the looms and other machineries, which without such encouragements +would not be able to meet the threatened rivalships of interfering +neighbors; I say only, that these ideas were in the heads of some of +my tenants. For myself I should not have mentioned them but as a +defence against what I must regard as so unfounded a charge, that it +ought not to be permitted to make a lasting impression. + +But laying aside all these considerations, I repeat, my dear Jonathan, +that the appointment of the head steward lies as much, if not more, +with you than with me. Let the choice fall where it may you will find +me faithfully abiding by it, whether it be thought the best possible +one or not, and sincerely wishing that he may equally improve better +opportunities of serving us both, than was the lot of any of those who +have gone before him. + +Jonathan who had a good heart, as well as a sound head and steady +temper, was touched with this tender and conciliatory language of +Mary; and the bickering which had sprung up ended as the quarrels of +lovers _always_, and of married folks _sometimes_ do, in an increased +affection and confidence between the parties. + + + + +For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +MARRYING WELL. + + +PHILADELPHIA, 1835. + +_My Dear Miss H----_,-- + +I fully agree with you in the high character you have given of the +"Southern Literary Messenger,"--some numbers of which I have had the +pleasure of reading, and join most heartily with you in the wish that +it may meet with the success it so eminently deserves. But what shall +I say in reply to your request to write something for its columns? You +are aware that nothing "_mediocre_" can find its way there; and you +are as well aware that I have seldom or never been charged with the +sin of authorship. Your requests however are commands; and although I +may fail to give to the subject I have selected, sufficient interest +to induce the editors to yield it a place in their paper, yet will I +indulge the hope that as it is a true story, it may prove useful to +yourself, for the truths it reveals,--though lacking the ornament to +make them acceptable to the general reader. + +It is not necessary to give a "local habitation" to those whose brief +story I am about to record. For all the purposes for which I have +called them up, you may suppose them to have lived in either Albany or +Richmond; for in many respects these cities are very much alike. Each +is situated on a noble river, and is the capital of a state. Each has +in its vicinity, hills and valleys, and landscapes of picturesque +beauty and grandeur, amid whose romantic and love inspiring scenes +many a sigh has been breathed and many a vow offered in vain. +Notwithstanding these places thus resemble each other, I would here +observe that you are not at liberty to be particular in your choice, +because you may have known or heard of persons and events in either of +them similar to those here described. What happens in one place may +happen in another, and he who travels far and wide will find the human +family every where agitated by the same feelings and the same +passions, and that all the elements that enter into the history of the +world, may be found in any one town or village, directing and +controlling the destinies of its inhabitants. + +Leaving however, to the historian and the philosopher, the task of +writing the history of the world, and developing the secret springs of +human action, and to sager heads to read them, than that of my fair +correspondent,--I will only ask your attention to what will be more +congenial to your wishes, and a more easily understood subject, a tale +of "Ladye Love," in which some of my younger friends and feelings were +deeply interested. + +During our schoolboy days, I became acquainted with George Marley; but +we will pass over his earlier years, until he had arrived at the age +of twenty. As it is not my intention to enter upon a particular +analysis of form and features, mind or manners, I will leave your +imagination to make George whatever you please, not incompatible with +a "marvellously proper" young man, tall and straight, with raven locks +and eagle eye--with all those high intellectual qualities, and that +deep moral rectitude, which wins admiration and commands esteem. Two +years before I have here introduced him to you, George's father was +considered one of the most wealthy merchants in the city, and George's +education and hopes were in accordance with his high expectations. But +a series of disasters to which commercial property is so very liable, +swept away from Mr. Marley every thing he possessed but the honorable +and virtuous character of himself and his family. At the time of his +father's misfortune George was taken from school, and placed in a +merchant's counting house, to qualify him for the active career of +life thus early forced upon him--a career in which he must depend upon +his own exertions for success, and in which he must win for himself, +and by himself, whatever he might obtain of fortune or of fame. + +In the particular circumstances of his situation at this time, I am +aware there is nothing to excite your sympathy. Many thousands of +young men enter upon the active scenes of life under more +disadvantages than these--without friends, without a good education, +without early habits of propriety and rectitude, and yet reach to the +highest eminence and renown; and why might not George Marley? The +answer is simply, he _loved!_ and would not love inspire him with +stronger and more powerful motives for exertion and success? + +Isabella Barclay was, if ever there was, a perfectly lovely girl. She +was one of those fair creatures that occasionally are seen among us, +but which seem to belong to a higher order of beings than those +inhabiting this lower world. It is not wonderful therefore that George +Marley should love her, or that she should love him. They did love, +truly--devotedly. They were too young to conceal it; there was no +cause for concealment. Every body knew it; their parents knew it, and +sanctioned it--and why should they not? Previously to the failure of +Mr. Marley, they were equal in fortune, in education, and in all that +could give promise of a certain and happy union. Although Mr. Marley +had fallen from affluence to comparative poverty, yet himself and his +family continued to enjoy the respect of all their acquaintance; and +the particular friendship that had existed between Mr. Marley and Mr. +Barclay, and their respective families, to all appearance suffered no +interruption. + +The misfortunes of Mr. Marley, although it had blighted the hopes of +George, had no effect on Isabella but to excite her pity and +strengthen her love. She was too young to calculate chances or +consequences--she had not loved George for his father's wealth, but +for himself; and while he remained the same, her affections were +immutable. Thus reasoned this pure and amiable girl; and for the two +years that elapsed from the time of the unfortunate failure of Mr. +Marley, up to that at which we commenced our tale, George was happy in +the expectation of ere long being enabled to raise his own fallen +fortune, and happier in the tried sincerity of his Isabella's love. + +I need not stop to tell you of the thousand hopes and fears, pleasures +and pains, our lovers suffered or enjoyed: I suppose they were such as +are common to all the votaries of the fickle God. Their attachment had +commenced at school, and we have continued it until he had arrived at +the age of twenty, and she seventeen, and at no time had any +interruption to its progress taken place. If you have paid any +attention to these love affairs, you will have observed the great +difference there is between those where the attachment commences early +in life, and the parties grow up together, forming and moulding their +feelings, their wishes, their amusements, their tastes, their whole +heart and soul, by the same model; and those "whom accident or blind +chance" bring together, and from some peculiarity of form or mind, for +a while deem themselves in love with each other. With the former, it +is the web of their existence, which, once broken, can never be woven +again; with the latter, it is "like a lady's glove," put off as easily +as it is put on, and with whose last sigh passes away all its +pleasures and its pains, leaving no "wreck behind." As that of George +and Isabella was of the former kind, and as no objection had been made +on the inequality of their fortunes, and as he was about to enter into +business for himself under the fairest prospects, their marriage when +they should arrive at a proper age, was looked for by themselves and +all others as beyond the reach of doubt or contingency. What +contingency could happen? Their known engagement, his constant +attention, and her acknowledged affection for him, formed an +impassable barrier to the advances that otherwise would have been made +by many who admired her. Indeed, you and I would suppose that no one +would attempt to mar their promised happiness, or wish to win hearts +that had so long beat for each other, and each other only. Yet did the +spoiler come! and where will he not come? Since he first found his way +into the Garden of Eden, and blasted the happiness of our common +parents, where is the paradise some spoiler has not entered? where the +scene of love and harmony he has not attempted to break up and +destroy? + +In the particular city to which we have alluded, there lived a +bachelor of upwards of double the age of George Marley, although his +appearance was younger than his age would have indicated; with few +personal attractions, he had but little education; and no more of +common sense, or any other kind of sense, than fitted him for the +accumulation of wealth. As he sustained a respectable character, was +called rich, and lived in a style of comparative splendor, he was of +course one of the good society of the city, and a desirable match for +any daughter a mother wished to sell to the highest bidder. If Mr. +Simson, for such was this gentleman's name, ever had had any feelings +of the heart--if he ever was susceptible of a pure and holy love; the +associations, habits, and pursuits of his whole life, had long since +deadened them all, or made them subservient to his will, an article of +trade or commerce, of marketable value, to bestow them on the wife of +his bosom, as a Pacha bestows his on the last fairest slave his wealth +has purchased. But you may ask what Mr. Simson has to do with the +loves of George and Isabella? Ah! my dear girl, old, ignorant and cold +hearted as he may be, he is the arbiter of their fate. It is in his +power to give them years of happiness, or it is in his power to blight +their buds of promise, and send them prematurely to their graves! and +why? because he is _rich!_ I know your young heart rejects the +supposition that such a man would, or could, break their bonds of +mutual love, that thus seemed to have been formed and strengthened +under the auspices of heaven,--that he by any means could "pluck from +the brows of their innocent love, the rose, and place a blister +there." I know you anticipate that he will appropriate a part of his +wealth to establish George in business, or will die and leave it all +to him; that thus he will be enabled to wed his Isabella, and their +lives thenceforth "go merry as a marriage bell." Alas! how little do +we know of ourselves or our destiny! how unseen or mistaken may be the +path that leads to high and happy places, or that which leads to +misery and despair! + +Nothing is more painful to my mind, than to witness a beautiful girl +thrown into the alluring and deceptive scenes of life without a +mother's guardianship. No other heart can sympathise with her, no +other hand direct her course. She does not feel for them, and they +cannot feel with her! Others may warn and advise her, but none but a +mother's watchful eye can perceive, and a mother's tender care guard +or direct her young affections. Isabella had a mother. But Mrs. +Barclay was a woman of the world. In early life she may have loved, +and that love may have been successful and happy; or she may have +married for convenience, to gratify some darling passion, and never +have known the deep feelings of a long cherished affection. No matter +what was the history of her younger days, they had passed away, and +with them all their sympathies and all their influence. She was now a +woman of the world--a _fashionable lady_. She loved her daughter, and +to make that daughter happy was the chief object of her care. The +notions of happiness entertained by this worthy matron, was such as +thousands and thousands believe, yet never find true. The show, the +glare of wealth and its attendants, the unsatisfying yet exciting +routine of fashionable life, were to her every thing; and that calm, +pure and virtuous happiness which springs in the heart, and is +cherished by its high and heavenly attributes, were to her unknown, or +as nothing. With such views, it was not to be expected that she would +look upon the attachment of George and Isabella in the most favorable +light, or promote its continuance, when it interfered with any other +more splendid prospect that might offer. Such a prospect did offer; +and that being who of all others should have directed her young and +unsuspecting offspring in the path of truth and rectitude; by a course +of deceptions, endeavored to induce Isabella to forsake her first and +only love, and unite herself to one who was incapable of loving her, +and who she could never love--to Mr. Simson! George was early apprised +of her purpose, and did all a true and noble mind could do, to avert +the blow she was preparing for him. His fears were always lulled by +the unwavering love of Isabella, and her vows of constancy. He +believed her true, and she believed herself true. But the continual +and insidious efforts of her mother and her fashionable friends, +poisoned her mind; and, tired of their importunities, she at length +yielded to their persuasions. George was too proud to let the world +triumph in the prostration of his hopes; as soon therefore as he was +assured of her infidelity, he set sail for South America. + +Isabella's abandonment of George, and her affiance to Mr. Simson, were +events soon known, and as soon attracted the attention of their +acquaintance. It was perceptible to every one, that her character had +passed away with him who had so long given it its tone and direction. +Freed from him who had from her infancy been the source and the +companion of all her pleasures, she visited every public and private +amusement or assembly, and was every where remarkable for her vivid +and reckless gaiety. Those who judged by appearances deemed her happy +in her new situation; but those who looked beneath the surface, saw +only in these wild demonstrations of joy, the vain efforts to banish +from her heart "the worm that dyeth not." + +Some months after the departure of George, Mr. Simson and Isabella +were married. From the time the latter had broken her vows to George, +all intimacy between her and myself had ceased. I was not therefore at +her wedding, but it was said to be numerous and brilliant--the bride +splendidly decorated, lovely, and the gayest of the gay. + +For a few short years after her marriage, although I lived in a +distant part of the country, I could hear of Isabella, now Mrs. +Simson. For sometime she apparently luxuriated in the golden vision, +for which had been sacrificed her earliest and fondest anticipations. +She gave the largest parties, and the most splendid fetes, and the +fashionable world pronounced her marriage _fortunate_. But soon this +illusory existence vanished, and I learned, what nothing can conceal, +that the decay which halteth not had settled itself upon her beautiful +form. A few months and she was confined to her house, and then to her +room, and then to her bed--and then came from her a brief but +thrilling letter, ardently desiring me to come to her before she died. +I did go; and did hear from her dying lips, how a mother's mistaken +love had made her faithless, and of the years of hopeless and bitter +anguish that followed and dragged her down to the grave. I have stood +by the dying bed of friends and relations--I have seen the last +struggle of a father, of brothers and sisters, and for all of these I +have had deep sorrow. But it was in the presence of that broken +hearted sufferer, and from the revealings and monitions of her +departing spirit, I learned that enduring lesson of life, which time +nor circumstance can ever obliterate. Yes! my dear girl; it was there +I received that lesson which I have so often endeavored to impress +upon your mind,--to guard you against the snares that are every where +spread by those who have wrecked their own happiness, to draw the +young and thoughtless into the vortex of their own dazzling but +heartless pleasures. Could you have been in that chamber, and have +seen and known how one so lovely, and whose morning of life was so +fair, had been snatched from the world of her bright +dreams,--prostrating in her fall all the years of earthly bliss that +might have been hers, and all the proud aspirations, the promised +felicity of him, the betrothed of her heart,--you would never again +breathe one sigh, or one wish,--or weaken one chord of pure affection, +for all that wealth and fashion can promise or bestow. + +A few days after this interview, she left this world of trouble,--and +the papers of the day, announced in the usual manner,--Died, on the +---- instant, of a "pulmonary complaint," Mrs. Simson, wife of Mr. +---- Simson; and who thought otherwise? who of all that surrounded +her, could deem she had a _heart_ to _break_? Thus she passed away; +and the world, busied with its own little and great schemes, soon +ceased to remember that she had ever lived, or loved, or died. + +With Isabella ends our tale. And it is only necessary in conclusion to +say, that George never knew how fully and fearfully she had atoned for +her fatal error. Before I had an opportunity of communicating to him +my last painful interview with her,--and her prayers for his happiness +and forgiveness, he had fallen in the struggle of South America for +liberty and independence. Mrs. Barclay is still alive, and so is Mr. +Simson, though now some ten years older than when he led Isabella a +victim to the altar. I presume he is still in the market; he is ten +years older, he is ten years richer, and thus doubly desirable to +those mothers who _love_ their daughters, and wish to have them _well +married_. + +I have endeavored to be as brief as possible, but my letter has +extended itself too long, and yet I fear it is too short to make that +impression I could wish. I cannot but hope, however, that Isabella's +fate will awaken in your breast, as it did in mine, those reflections +that will lead you justly to appreciate how false and empty are the +world's opinions, when compared with the conscientious dictates of our +own calm and unbiassed judgment,--and determine you to choose that +life whence rises and flows the streams of all our earthly happiness. +If I have failed, and that flower which now blooms so fair and +fragrant by the banks of Powhatan, should be plucked by a hand +insensible to its sweets, to ornament some princely hall, and wither +amid all its splendor, then you may recollect the warning voice, and +think of one, though humble, who would have sacrificed every other +hope of happiness to cherish that flower--you may then remember---- + +B----. + + + + +For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +SKETCH OF VIRGINIA SCENERY. + +The following Sketch of Virginia Scenery is sent with the hope the +author will excuse the liberty taken, as it was written without the +slightest idea of its being ever published, by a traveller through +some of the scenes of Western Virginia:-- + + +"It was a charming evening--the sky was almost cloudless, and the +sultry air of summer seemed to be gradually giving way to the cool and +refreshing breezes of autumn. Accompanied by a few companions and some +persons acquainted with the surrounding country, I ascended the large +and romantic rock near the village of Rockymount, known by the name of +the '_Bald Knob_.' This rock is about 200 feet above the level of the +water, and the ascent exceedingly steep and difficult. Its name is +indeed descriptive of its general character and appearance, which are +calculated to strike more by its novelty of height and rugged aspect, +than its beauty of herbage or richness of attire.--We wound up among +ledges of rock, and now and then found our progress retarded by the +intervention of some stunted cedars and oaks, which had clung to a +soil which would seem hardly able to afford any sustenance, except to +the moss, long celebrated for its fondness for the flinty rock. This +moss, consisting of several rich and beautiful species, has wove a +seeming carpet of the most vivid green, and surpasses in softness the +finest fabrics of the Turkish looms. Delighted and amused, we strolled +from cliff to cliff, gazing on the works of Omnipotence, which arose +around, above, beneath us, and feasting our delighted senses on the +rich magnificence of the scenes presented from its summit. The lofty +mountains dimly seen from afar; the 'rural cottages' in the vales +below; the smoke richly curling from the unseen hamlets among the +lofty trees; the startling sound of the huntsman's gun re-echoed from +the rocky heights--were an assemblage of pleasures rarely enjoyed by +so short an excursion. The 'Peaks of Otter,' appeared with much +distinctness and beauty, while a rich and variegated cloud seemed to +rest on their summit, as though it had stooped to gaze with us on +their magnificent heights. A branch of the Alleghany is also visible +between two lofty hills, and the blue tints that rested on its brow, +contrasted with the glowing greens of the adjacent forests, presented +to the eye a grateful and pleasing variety of shade.--The picturesque +village of Rockymount appears to much advantage from this rock, and +the country around is one of much wild and romantic beauty. Long did +we gaze on the works of nature's God,--displayed in majestic, rural, +and beautiful scenes; and then turning from these glorious +manifestations of wisdom and power, traced the names of many a +youthful swain and maid, who had chiselled out their initials on the +flinty rock, urged no doubt by the puerile ambition of being +remembered long after they had ceased to roam among its rocky alcoves. +There could the poet's soul catch sparks of inspiration from nature's +open volume, and the painter's pencil vainly strive to touch with +living lines his there _faithless_ canvass. 'Who can paint like +nature?' would echo from each lovely object; and man, in all his pride +of nature and of art, shrink from the task of copying her rich and +gorgeous dyes. There would the Christian pour out his soul in +adoration and praise; and, lost in contemplation of the Hand that +raised the mountains and spread out the plain, stoop not to draw his +sources of delight from the _poorer, yet still rich_ pleasures +afforded to the carnal mind. The fanciful may, aided by this sketch, +catch a glimpse of the beauties of the scenes,--but let them, like me, +view them as they are, and they will own how far the reality exceeds +the most vivid colorings of even a wild and enthusiastic admirer of +the works of nature's God." + +J. W. C. + +_September, 1832_. + + + + + From the Scottish Literary Gazette. + +COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. + + +There lived in a country not a thousand miles from Edinburgh, a decent +farmer, who, by patient industry and frugality, and without being +avaricious, had made himself easy in circumstances. He enjoyed life +without being profuse; for he tempered his enjoyments with moderation. +At the age of sixty, he still retained the bloom of health on his +cheek. He lived till that age a bachelor; but his household affairs +were regulated by a young woman, whose attentive zeal for her master's +interest made it easy for him to enjoy his home without a wife. She +was only in the character of his humble servant, but she was virtuous +and prudent. Betty allotted the tasks to the servants in the house, +performed the labor within doors, during harvest, when all the others +were engaged. She saw every thing kept in order, and regulated all +with strict regard to economy and cleanliness. She had the singular +good fortune to be at once beloved by her fellow-servants, as well as +respected and trusted by her master. Her master even consulted her in +matters where he knew she could give advice, and found it often his +interest to do so. But her modesty was such, that she never tendered +her advices gratuitously. Prudence regulated all her actions, and she +kept the most respectful distance from her master. She paid all +attention to his wants and wishes; nor could a wife or daughter have +been more attentive. When he happened to be from home, it was her +province to wait upon him when he returned, provide his refreshment, +and administer to all his wants. Then she reported to him the +occurrences of the day, and the work which had been done. It did not +escape her master's observation, however, that, though she was anxious +to relate the truth, she still strove to extenuate and hide the faults +of those who had committed misdemeanors. Her whole conduct was such, +that, for the period of fifteen years, the breath of slander dared not +to hazard a whisper against her. + +It happened, however, that a certain _maiden_ lady in the neighborhood +had cast an eye upon the farmer. She was the niece of a bachelor +minister, and lived at the manse in the character of housekeeper. But, +with all opportunity to become a competitor with Betty, she could +never gain her character. Those people who want personal attractions +take strange means of paying court, and endeavoring to open the way +for themselves. What they cannot effect by treaty, they endeavor to do +by sapping. Scandal is their magazine, by which they attempt to clear +their way from all obstructions. This maiden lady made some sinister +remarks, in such a way, and in such a place, as were sure to reach the +farmer's ear. The farmer was nearly as much interested for the +character of his servant as he was for his own, and so soon as he +discovered the authoress, made her a suitable return. But he made +ample amends to Betty for the injury she had suffered, and, at the +same time, rewarded her for her services, by taking her for his wife. +By this event, the lady, whose intentions had been well understood, +and who had thought of aggrandizing herself at the expense and ruin of +poor Betty, found that she had contributed the very means to advance +her to the realization of a fortune she had never hoped for. May all +intermeddlers of the same cast have the same punishment: they are +pests to society. + +Betty's success had created some speculation in the country. Though +every one agreed that Betty deserved her fortune, it was often +wondered how such a modest, unassuming girl had softened the heart of +the bachelor, who, it was thought, was rather flinty in regard to the +fair sex. Betty had an acquaintance, who was situated in nearly the +same circumstances as herself, in being at the head of a bachelor +farmer's house; but it would appear that she had formed a design of +conquering her master. If Betty used artifice, however, it was without +design. But her neighbor could not, it would appear, believe that she +had brought the matter to a bearing without some stratagem; and she +wished Betty to tell her how she had gone about "courting the old +man." There was, withal, so much native simplicity about Betty, and +the manner of relating her own courtship and marriage is so like +herself, that it would lose its _naïveté_ unless told in her own +homely Scotch way. Betty, into all, had a lisp in her speech, that is, +a defect in speech, by which the _s_ is always pronounced as _th_, +which added a still deeper shade of simplicity to her manner; but it +would be trifling to suit the orthography to that common defect. The +reader can easily suppose that he hears Betty lisping, while she is +relating her story to her attentive friend. + +"Weel, Betty," says her acquaintance, "come, gi'e me a sketch, an' +tell me a' about it; for I may ha'e a chance mysel'. We dinna ken +what's afore us. We're no the waur o' ha'ein' some body to tell us the +road, whan we dinna ken a' the cruiks and thraws in't." "Deed," says +Betty, "there was little about it ava. Our maister was awa at the fair +ae day selling the lambs, and it was gey late afore he cam' hame. Our +maister verra seldom steys late, for he's a douce man as can be. Weel, +ye see, he was mair herty than I had seen him for a lang time; but I +opine he had a gude merket for his lambs, and ther's room for excuse +whan ane drives a gude bergen. Indeed, to tell even on truth, he had +rather better than a wee drap in his e'e. It was my usual to sit up +till he cam' hame, when he was awa. When he cam' in and gaed up +stairs, he fand his sipper ready for him. 'Betty,' says he, very +saft-like. 'Sir,' says I. 'Betty,' says he, 'what has been gaun on the +day--a's right, I houp?' 'Ouy, sir,' says I. 'Very weel, very weel,' +says he, in his ain canny way. He ga'e me a clap on the shouther, and +said I was a gude lassie. When I had telt him a' that had been dune +throu' the day, just as I aye did, he ga'e me another clap on the +shouther, and said he was a fortunate man to ha'e sic a carefu' person +about the house. I never had heard him say as muckle to my face +before, tho' he aften said mair ahint my back. I really thocht he was +fey. Our maister, when he had gotten his sipper finished, began to be +verra joky ways, and said that I was baith a gude and bonny lassie. I +kent that folks arna' themsels whan in drink, and they say rather mair +than they wad do if they were sober. Sae I cam' awa' doon into the +kitchen. + +"Twa or three days after that, our maister cam' into the +kitchen--'Betty,' says he. 'Sir,' says I. 'Betty,' says he, 'come up +stairs; I want to speak t'ye,' says he. 'Verra weel, sir,' says I. Sae +I went up stairs after him, thinking a' the road that he was gaun to +tell me something about the feeding o' the swine, or killing the +heefer, or something like that. But whan he telt me to sit doun, I saw +there was something serious, for he never bad me sit doun afore but +ance, and that was whan he was gaun to Glasgow fair. 'Betty,' says he, +'ye ha'e been lang a servant to me,' says he, 'and a gude and honest +servant. Since ye're sae gude a servant, I aften think ye'll make a +better wife. Ha'e ye ony objection to be a wife, Betty?' says he. 'I +dinna ken, sir,' says I. 'A body canna just say hou they like a +bargain till they see the article.' 'Weel, Betty,' says he, 'ye're +very right there again. I ha'e had ye for a servant these fifteen +years, and I never knew that I could find fau't wi' ye for onything. +Ye're carefu', honest, an' attentif, an'--.' 'O, sir,' says I, 'ye +always paid me for't, and it was only my duty,' 'Weel, weel,' says he, +'Betty, that's true; but then I mean to mak' amens t'ye for the evil +speculation that Tibby Langtongue raised about you and me, and forby, +the warld are taking the same liberty: sae, to stop a' their mouths, +you and I sall be married.' 'Verra weel, sir,' says I; for what cou'd +I say? + +"Our maister looks into the kitchen another day, an' says, 'Betty,' +says he. 'Sir,' says I. 'Betty,' says he, 'I am gaun to gi'e in our +names to be cried in the kirk, this and next Sabbath.' 'Verra weel, +sir,' says I. + +"About eight days after this, our maister says to me, 'Betty,' says +he. 'Sir,' says I. 'I think,' says he, 'we will ha'e the marriage put +owre neist Friday, if ye ha'e nae objection.' 'Verra weel, sir,' says +I. 'And ye'll tak' the grey yad, and gang to the toun on Monday, an' +get your bits o' wedding braws. I ha'e spoken to Mr. Cheap, the +draper, and ye can tak' aff onything ye want, an' please yoursell, for +I canna get awa that day.' 'Verra weel, sir,' says I. + +"Sae I gaed awa to the toun on Monday, an' bought some wee bits o' +things; but I had plenty o' claes, and I cou'dna think o' being +'stravagant. I took them to the manty-maker, to get made, and they +were sent hame on Thursday. + +"On Thursday night, our maister says to me, 'Betty,' says he. 'Sir,' +says I. 'To-morrow is our wedding-day,' says he, 'an' ye maun see that +a' things are prepared for the denner,' says he, 'an' see every thing +dune yoursel,' says he, 'for I expect some company, an' I wad like to +see every thing feat and tiddy in your ain way,' says he. 'Verra weel, +sir,' says I. + +"I had never ta'en a serious thought about the matter till now; and I +began to consider that I must exert mysel to please my maister and the +company. Sae I got every thing in readiness, and got every thing +clean--I cou'dna think ought was dune right except my ain hand was +in't. + +"On Friday morning, our maister says to me, 'Betty,' says he. 'Sir,' +says I. 'Go away and get yoursel dressed,' says he, 'for the company +will soon be here, and ye maun be decent. An' ye maun stay in the room +up stairs,' says he, 'till ye're sent for,' says he. 'Verra weel, +sir,' says I. But there was sic a great deal to do, and sae many grand +dishes to prepare for the dinner to the company, that I could not get +awa', and the hail folk were come afore I got mysel dressed. + +"Our maister cam' doun stairs, and telt me to go up that instant and +dress mysel, for the minister was just comin doun the loan. Sae I was +obliged to leave every thing to the rest of the servants, an' gang up +stain, an' pit on my claes. + +"When I was wanted, Mr. Brown o' the Haaslybrae cam' and took me into +the room among a' the gran' fouk, an' the minister. I was maist like +to fent; for I never saw sae mony gran' folk together a' my born days +afore, an' I didna ken whar to look. At last, our maister took me by +the han', an' I was greatly relieved. The minister said a great deal +to us--but I canna mind it a'--and then he said a prayer. After this, +I thought I should ha'e been worried wi' folk kissing me,--mony a yin +shook hands wi' me I had never seen afore, and wished me much joy. + +"After the ceremony was o'er, I slipped awa' doun into the kitchen +again amang the rest o' the servants to see if the dinner was a' +right. But in a wee time our maister cam' into the kitchen, an' says, +'Betty,' says he. 'Sir,' says I. 'Betty,' says he, 'ye must consider +that ye're no longer my servant, but my wife,' says he; 'and therefore +ye must come up stairs and sit amongst the rest of the company,' says +he. 'Verra weel, sir,' says I. Sae what could I do, but gang up stairs +to the rest of the company, an' sit doun among them? I sat there in a +corner, as weel out o' sight as I could, for they were a' speaking to +me or looking at me, an' I didna ken how to behave amang sic braw +company, or how to answer them. I sat there till it was gey late, and +our maister made me drink the company's healths, and they gaed a' +away. + +"When the company were a' gaen awa', I went doun to the kitchen, and +saw that every thing was right; and after I put a candle into my +maister's bed-room, I took another, and gaed away up to my ain wee +room, in the garret. Just whan I was casting aff my shune, I hears our +maister first gang into his ain room, and then come straight awa' up +towards mine. I think I can hear him yet, for it was siccan +extraord'nar thing, and I never saw him there afore; and every stamp +o' his feet gaed thunt, thunt to my very hert. He stood at the cheek +o' the door, and said, very saftly, 'Betty,' says he. 'Sir,' says +I--'But what brought ye here, sir,' says I. 'Naething,' says he. +'Verra weel, naething be it, sir,' says I. 'But,' says he, 'remember +that ye're no longer my servant, but my wife,' says he. 'Verra weel, +sir,' says I; 'I will remember that.' 'And ye must come down stairs,' +says he. 'Verra weel, sir,' says I; for what could I do? I had always +obeyed my maister before, and it was nae time to disobey him now. + +"Sae, Jean, that was a' that was about my courtship or marriage." + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +REMINISCENCE: + +OR, STORY OF A SHIPWRECK. + + +In the year 1797, I left the United States, having under my control a +new clipper built schooner of about eighty tons, bound to Cape +Francais, in the island of St. Domingo, with a cargo, chiefly +munitions of war, for the colonial government of that island. The +harbor of Cape Francais is one of the best in the world,--capacious, +safe, and of easy access; the entrance under a high point of land,--on +the side of which is a strong fortification called Fort Picolet, which +completely commands the pass. Above the fort, on very elevated ground, +was placed the observatory, in view of the town, although two or three +miles distant. + +England being then at war with France, and having the command of the +West India seas, the direct intercourse of the island with France was +rare and uncertain--European news generally reaching them by the way +of the United States. My business at the Cape being nearly finished, +it became necessary, for a particular mercantile speculation, that I +should return to the United States by the way of St. Thomas. Three or +four days before I was prepared to sail, early one forenoon, I +observed all at once a singular excitement in the streets,--drums +beating, alarm guns firing, &c. Upon making inquiry into the occasion, +I was informed that the signals at the observatory indicated a fleet +to windward standing for the port. The leading frigate was soon seen +from the town, making signals to the fort, and without molestation +stood directly in, and proved to be a squadron from France, under the +command of Commodore Barney, with a number of prizes in company, which +altogether made a very imposing appearance. The day before I had +intended to leave the Cape, I was accosted in the street by a stout +sailor looking man, who civilly inquired if I had not a vessel in port +bound to St Thomas, and could he get a passage in her--adding, that he +was an Englishman, had been captain of one of the brigs then in port, +captured by Commodore Barney, on his passage out from Liverpool to +Barbadoes; and as he had not been armed he was not held as a prisoner, +but turned ashore pennyless, to shift for himself as he best +might--that could he get to St. Thomas, he could raise funds by bills +on his consignees at Barbadoes, and would pay whatever the charge +might be for his passage up. I told him I believed that it was the +custom for unfortunate seamen to receive assistance from their +fellows, without thinking of recompense--that he was entirely welcome +to a passage; and as the schooner would leave the port early the next +morning, I would give him a note to the captain, and advise him to +take his baggage and go immediately on board. He observed that his +baggage was easily removed--that although he had considerable property +on board of the brig when captured, belonging to himself, the captors +had left him nothing but a sailor's bag to take care of. Next morning +we left Cape Francais, with a view of beating up to St Thomas. This is +a voyage of some difficulty, being a distance of some six or seven +hundred miles, with the trade wind dead ahead. Navigators of those +seas know that in this passage there is a dangerous reef of sunken +rocks, whose sharp points rarely reach the surface, called the Silver +Keys, lying about midway between the northeast part of the island of +St. Domingo, and the cluster of islands, keys and shoals, east of +Turk's Island; and although the passage is probably a hundred miles +wide, and the reef covers but a small space, yet many a fine vessel +has been wrecked thereon. Knowing perfectly well the existence and +location of this dangerous reef, and making my own observations on the +run of the vessel, I had calculated on the third night that we were +out--that if we neither saw nor heard any thing of it by midnight, we +should have passed it; I therefore kept the deck until that hour, when +concluding all was safe, went below. I had got to sleep, when I was +awoke by the vessel's bottom and sides rubbing violently against the +rocks. I immediately got upon deck, and looking round found we were in +a most perilous situation; on all sides surrounded by rocks, which +were plainly known by the waves gently breaking upon them. The moon +was near her full, occasionally obscured by passing clouds--the wind +moderate. The schooner was instantly put about, under the expectation +of finding the way out by which we entered; she had only got cleverly +under way when she went bows on, upon a sunken sharp pointed rock, and +remained stationary. An immediate examination was made, when it was +discovered that the rock had penetrated her bottom, and the water was +pouring in. Our situation was in the highest degree alarming--the +schooner evidently lost, and no chance for our safety but the boat, +which for a vessel of eighty tons could not be large. There was nine +of us, the captain, mate, English captain, myself and five colored +seamen. Fortunately the weather was mild; the vessel quietly hanging +to the rock, and not filling very fast, gave us time to make our +arrangements. The boat was launched, a mast and sail prepared, short +stanchions nailed to her gunwale, and a strip of sail cloth attached +thereto, for the purpose of raising her sides, to prevent the spray of +the sea washing in. We took also on board, the ship's compass, a bag +of biscuit, a keg of water, and some bottles of brandy. No baggage was +permitted. My own dress was shirt, pantaloons, shoes, hat, and an old +surtout coat. I had taken the precaution to secure the papers relative +to the voyage, my watch, and about sixty Spanish dollars tied up in a +shot bag; the bag of dollars I made fast to the ringbolt in the boat's +stern. We were probably a couple of hours in making those +preparations. At length the schooner being nearly full of water, we +settled ourselves in the boat and left her,--the captain, who steered, +and myself in the stern sheets, the mate and English captain next, two +of the seamen midships, with tin cans to bail the water out as it +should splash in, the others forward. I had little expectation that +the boat could possibly live as deeply loaded as she was, and such I +believe was the opinion of all on board,--for the first two or three +hours there was not a dozen words spoken. It was our object to make +the island of St. Domingo, from which we were fifty or sixty miles +distant, as soon as possible. To effect this all our exertions were +used; but so miserably rigged as we were, and so deep withal, that we +could do little more than run before the wind. Our oars were some how +or other of little use. On the first day we made, that is we had a +very distant view of land, on our larboard bow, which we supposed to +be Point Isabella, the most northern part of the island of St. +Domingo; the wind would not permit us to reach it. In the evening we +had a severe squall; the wind blew, the waves increased; we lowered +our sail, just sufficient to keep before the wind. Soon it commenced +raining hard, the waves were stilled, we rode out the storm, and began +to breathe more freely--entered into conversation, and entertained +hopes of our ultimate safety, by getting to land somewhere, or being +picked up; but neither land nor vessel appeared during the whole of +the second day, we still running before the wind, making as much +southing as the nature of our equipment would permit. On the morning +of the third day we found ourselves off Monti Christi, and might +probably have reached the land; but by this time we had become +confident in our power to sustain ourselves, and determined to run for +Cape Francais, which then lay direct to leeward, and which we reached +in perfect safety about three o'clock that afternoon. Thus terminated +a voyage of about two hundred and fifty miles, in about sixty hours, +in the open sea, and in a small boat so deeply loaded, that her +gunwale, on an even keel, could not be above four inches above the +water--leaving us in a complete state of destitution; not a man but +myself had saved any thing but the clothes around him. + +Our return created a considerable sensation. I was quickly surrounded +by my acquaintances, anxious to hear the details of our misfortune, +and to offer their services in the most liberal manner. This was +naturally to be expected from my countrymen. There was however one +occurrence in a French gentleman, which I can never forget, and must +relate; he held some subordinate office under government. I had been +introduced to his family by a German who I had known in the United +States. This gentleman called upon me, and taking me aside from the +crowd by which I was surrounded, told me that he had just heard of my +misfortune, and had come to offer me any money I might want, to be +returned in my own way, and at my own convenience. Altogether his +manner was so kind and friendly, that I am sorry his name has entirely +escaped my memory. After very sincerely thanking him for his +friendship and generosity, I told him I had sufficient funds for my +immediate wants. Early next day I was called upon by two American +gentlemen, the one a Mr. Dodge, who from his long residence and good +character, was usually called "consul." They informed me that the +Americans at the Cape, resident and transient, hearing of the +misfortunes of myself and crew, had raised a subscription for our +relief, and that they had called upon me to know the numbers and +relative situation of those on board at the time of the disaster, to +enable them to make the distribution of the money raised, in the +fairest and most efficient manner. I informed these gentlemen that we +were not exactly objects of charity--that my funds were sufficient for +my purposes--that the captain had sold the boat which preserved us, +for thirty or forty dollars--that the mate could get employment if he +wished it, or could get a gratuitous passage home--that the colored +seamen could ship aboard American vessels in port, who were in want of +hands--but that there was one person shipwrecked with us, who was +particularly unfortunate: he was, or rather had been, the captain of +an English brig then in the harbor, a prize to Commodore Barney, +turned ashore with nothing but his clothes, and those lost in the +wreck; I was giving him a passage to St. Thomas, with a view of +placing him as near as I could to the place he was bound to; he was +now in an enemy's country, and entirely destitute. Mr. Dodge observed +that he would not consent to give the Englishman a dollar; that the +English cruisers were plundering and confiscating American property +wherever they could find it, and that they had almost ruined him. I +observed that I had correctly informed them of the situation of all +the persons in the vessel when wrecked, and that they, as the +distributors of the public contribution, would in course use their own +discretion. They left me. A few hours afterwards, the gentleman who +had accompanied Mr. Dodge returned alone. He told me that Mr. Dodge +had consented to let the Englishman in for a portion of the money +collected, and that he would share equally with the schooner's mate, +and that if I would bring him to Mr. Dodge's counting house, his quota +was ready for him. This I promised to do; and in the course of the day +fell in with our companion in misfortune, told him what had been done, +took him to the place designated, and introduced him to the gentlemen. +They counted out, as well as I remember, about sixty hard dollars, and +presented them to him. He gathered them up in a dirty handkerchief, +and thanked them for their kindness and liberality--in doing which he +was so much affected, that be burst into tears. We left the place +together; I parted from him in the street, and have never heard of him +since. In a few days I took passage on board an American schooner +bound for Philadelphia, and after a short passage, was peaceably under +quarantine in the river Delaware. + +R. + +_Alexandria, January 1835_. + + + + +SELECTIONS + +From the Papers of the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society. + + +We have been permitted to transfer to our pages the subjoined papers +in possession of the Historical Society, which will doubtless afford +much gratification to our readers. The first is an extract from a +manuscript which was the property of the late venerable and learned +Chancellor Wythe, and seems to have been copied by him, or for his +use, from the "Breviate Book" of Sir John Randolph, who was attorney +general of the Colony in 1734. This extract contains biographical +sketches of John Holloway and William Hopkins, two prominent members +of the bar at that early period. The orthography of the original has +been preserved. + +The second is an interesting record of the proceedings of a patriotic +band in Norfolk Borough and County in the early part of the +Revolutionary war, associated under the brief and imposing title of +"Sons of Liberty." This document breathes a noble spirit of resistance +to tyranny in our ancestors, which we may fondly hope their +descendants will never cease to cherish and emulate. It was presented +at the last meeting of the Society by Dr. Barraud, whose letter we +also take pleasure in publishing. + +The third paper, is an authentic narrative of an Indian attack upon +Wheeling Fort in 1777, furnished by one of the survivors, who is now +living in the county of Brooke. This document was communicated by +William McCluney, Esq. of Wellsburg, and has once appeared in the +"Brooke Republican." Mr. McCluney states, that Captain Samuel Mason, +the commander of the fort, was afterwards the famous Mississippi +robber. + + * * * * * + + Taken from Sir John Randolph's Breviate Book. + +On the 14th of December, 1734, died suddenly of a fit, John Holloway, +Esq., after having languished about ten months with a sort of +epilepsie at certain times of the moon, which had much impaired his +memory and understanding. He had practised in this court upwards of +thirty years, with great reputation for diligence and learning; and +was so much in the good opinion of the court, that I have, upon many +occasions, known him prevail for his clients against reasons and +arguments much stronger and better than his. His opinions were by most +people looked upon as decisive, and were very frequently acquiesced in +by both parties, those against whom he pronounced being discouraged +from disputing against so great authority. He practised with much +artifice and cunning, being thoroughly skilled in attorneyship; but +when his causes came to a hearing, he reasoned little, was tedious in +reading long reports of some cases, and little abridgments of others, +out of which he would collect short aphorisms, and obiter sayings of +judges, and rely upon them, without regarding the main point in +question, and arbitrarily affirm or deny a matter of law, which had +often too much weight, against the reason and difference of things. By +this method, he gained many causes which always gave him great joy; +but was as impatient if he lost one, as if it tended to a diminution +of his credit. He was blameable for one singular practice, in drawing +notes for special verdicts. He would state naked circumstances of +facts only, and leave it to the court to collect the matter of fact +out of them; so that, upon such verdicts, we have had many tedious +debates about what the fact was: whereas, if that had been found +positively as it should be, there would have been no need of a special +verdict. But against this I could never prevail. His greatest +excellence was his diligence and industry; but for learning I never +thought he had any, nor could it be expected he should. He had served +a clerkship; went a youth afterwards into the army in Ireland, in the +beginning of King William's reign; after that betook himself to +business, having got to be one of the attorneys of the Marshalsea +court; but not being contented with his income from that, turned +projector and ruined himself, which brought him first into Maryland, +and afterwards hither. I remember one particular instance, which +satisfied me his knowledge in the law was not very profound. An +ejectment was brought, (whether I was at first concerned in it I +forget,) and upon a special verdict the case was thus. A seized in fee +by deed, gave the land in question to B his daughter, for life, and +after her death, to her heirs forever. She sold it to the defendant, +and after her death, the plaintiff, B's heir, claiming as a purchaser +in remainder, brought this action to recover. When I saw this, I told +the plaintiff, who was my client, I could not say one word for him, +not knowing a more certain rule of law than this:--that where by will +or conveyance, any estate of freehold is given to the ancestor, and by +the same writing an estate is limited to his heirs, that makes a fee, +[heirs] being there a word of limitation, and not of purchase. Yet the +defendant, by this eminent lawyer's advice, gave up the land without +argument, upon the plaintiff's allowing him to remain in possession +some short time longer; when if the matter had been brought to a +hearing I would not have said one word. However, his reputation was +such, that he was universally courted, and most people thought +themselves obliged to him, if he would engage their side upon any +terms; and he really thought so himself. This gave him great +opportunities of exacting excessive fees; which I have heard he always +did, where the value of the thing in question would allow it: and +covered great blemishes in one part of his private life, besides many +imperfections of his mind, which any body might observe who knew any +thing of him. He was of a haughty, insolent nature; passionate and +peevish to the last degree. He had a stiffness in his carriage which +was ridiculous, and often offensive; and was an utter stranger to +hospitality. He was sincere in his friendship, where he professed +any,--but not constant; apt to change upon small provocations, and to +contract new friendship upon very slight grounds, in which he would be +very warm and ready to do all good offices. One of his greatest +defects was that he would always bring his opinion and friendship to +agree. But what he wanted in virtue and learning to recommend him, was +abundantly supplied by fortunate accidents. He was fourteen years +speaker of the House of Burgesses, and eleven years public Treasurer. +But in those he acted with little applause, and less abilities; though +he was three times chosen, and once unanimously. His management of the +treasury contributed to his ruin, and brought him to the grave with +much disgrace. I was always his friend, and had a great deal of reason +to believe him mine. Yet it was impossible to be blind to so many +imperfections. He died, little lamented, in the sixty-ninth year of +his age. + + * * * * * + +In a few daies afterwards, in London, died William Hopkins, Esq. who +had practised in this court about eighteen years, and in that time, by +hard study and observation, he made a surprising progress; became a +very ingenious lawyer and a good pleader, though at his first coming +he was raw and much despised. But he had a carelesness in his nature, +which preserved him from being discouraged, and carried him on till he +came to be admired. He had a good foundation in school learning; +understood Latin and French well; had a strong memory, a good +judgment, a quickness that was very visible, and a handsome +person;--all mighty advantages. But his manner was awkward; his temper +sour, if it was to be judged by the action of his muscles; and was +given, too much given, to laugh at his own discourses. + +When he had brought himself into good business, he almost totally +neglected it; which I believe was owing to a desire of dipping into +all kinds of knowledge, wherein he had a great deal of vanity, and +prevented his digesting what he had so well as he would have done +otherwise. He had many good qualities in his practice; was moderate in +his fees; ingenious and honest; never disputed plain points, but was a +candid, fair arguer. Yet he had a failing, which brought him to a +quarrel with me. It was an odd sort of pride, that would not suffer +him to keep an equilibrium in his own conceits. He could not see +himself admired, without thinking it an injury to him to stand upon a +level with any other; and therefore, though I was always his friend, +had done him many kindnesses, and he himself thought himself obliged +to me, he came into so ill a temper, as not to allow me either +learning or honesty; which broke our acquaintance--and after that I +thought I discovered some seeds of malice in him. He died in the +flower of his age, and may be justly reckoned a loss to this poor +country, which is not like to abound (at present at least) in great +genius's. + + * * * * * + +_Norfolk, January 16th, 1835_. + +SIR: I herewith transmit you (with a request that if you shall deem it +proper, it may be presented to the next meeting of the Virginia +Historical and Philosophical Society,) a copy of an ancient Record of +the Actings and Doings of certain inhabitants of the Borough and +County of Norfolk, associated under the name of "Sons of Liberty." +This record has lain (tradition relates) in the office of the clerk of +this Borough from its date; unknown to the world at large, and +unnoticed even by many of the inhabitants themselves. The moment my +attention was called to it, it appeared to me entitled by its +antiquity and the generous spirit of patriotism and self-devotion +which it so strongly breathes, to a place in the records of a society +whose laudable purpose is to rescue from oblivion (into which already +too many of the works of talent and deeds of patriotism of the state +have fallen,) the remaining monuments of the colonial and +revolutionary history of Virginia. + +The letter of Richard Bland, (attached to the original, and which is +obviously autographic,) seemed to me particularly interesting, and to +deserve a place among the transactions of your society. That letter +characterizes the resolutions as "noble," and declares that "they will +remain lasting monuments of the public spirit of the Sons of Liberty, +and of their love to their country." To this end I very respectfully +tender them to your society, whose institution, allow me to say, I +hail as the dawn of a new era in the literature and science of the +commonwealth. + +Be pleased to accept for your society, and yourself individually, +assurances of my high respect, + +OTWAY B. BARRAUD. + +_To the President of the Historical and Philosophical Society of +Virginia._ + + +PROCEEDINGS + +Of the Sons of Liberty at Norfolk, 1766. + +Preserved as a monument of their public spirit and love to their +country. + +At a meeting of a considerable number of inhabitants of the town and +county of Norfolk, and others, Sons of Liberty, at the court-house of +said county, in the Colony of Virginia, on Monday, the 31st of March, +1766-- + +Having taken into consideration the evil tendency of that oppressive +and unconstitutional act of Parliament, called the stamp act, and +being desirous that our sentiments should be known to posterity, and +recollecting that we are a part of that colony who first, in general +assembly, openly expressed their detestation to the said act, (which +is pregnant with ruin, and productive of the most pernicious +consequences,) and unwilling to rivet the shackles of slavery and +oppression on ourselves and millions yet unborn, have unanimously come +to the following resolutions-- + +1. _Resolved_, That we acknowledge our sovereign lord King George the +Third to be our rightful and lawful king; and that we will at all +times, to the utmost of our power and ability, support and defend his +most sacred person, crown and dignity, and shall be always ready, when +constitutionally called upon, to assist his said majesty with our +lives and fortunes, and to defend all his just rights and +prerogatives. + +2. _Resolved_, That we will, by all lawful ways and means which Divine +Providence has put into our hands, defend ourselves in the full +enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to posterity, those inestimable +privileges of all free-born British subjects, of being taxed only by +representatives of their own choosing, and of being tryed by none but +a jury of their peers: and that if we quietly submit to the execution +of the said stamp act, all our claims to civil liberty will be lost, +and we and our posterity become absolute slaves; for by that act, +British subjects in America are deprived of the invaluable privileges +aforementioned. + +3. _Resolved_, That a committee be appointed, who shall, in such +manner as they think most proper, go upon necessary business, and make +public the above resolutions; and that they correspond, as they shall +see occasion, with the associated Sons of, and Friends to Liberty, in +the other British colonies in America. + +James Holt; Henry Tucker; Robert Tucker; Robert Tucker, Jr.; John +Hutchings; Thomas Davis; Manuel Calvert; James Parker; Lewis Hansford. + +_Signed to the foregoing--_ + +John Hutchings, Jr.; Paul Loyall; William Roscow Curle; Anthony +Lawson; Joseph Hutchings; Thomas Newton, Sr.; John Phripp, Jr.; John +Ramsay; John Gilchrist; Matthew Godfrey; Matthew Phripp; Thomas +Newton, Jr.; Samuel Boush; Richard Knight; James Campbell; John +Lawrence; Joshua Nicholson; Nicholas Wonycott; Matthew Rothery; Jacob +Elligood; Cornelius Calvert; Edward Archer; Edward Voss; Francis +Peart; Samuel Calvert; James Gibson; Nicholas Winterton; Griffin +Peart; John Wilfery; William Skinker; Thomas Butt; William Gray; +Hudson Brown; John Taylor; Alexander Moseley; John Taylor, Jr.; +William Calvert; William Atchison; Edward Hach Moseley, Jr.; William +Hancock; Robert Brett; Stephen Tankard; Thomas Willoughby; James Dunn; +John Crammond; Alexander Kincaid; George Muter; Christopher Calvert. + +On a motion made that a Moderator be chosen for the better transacting +business, the Reverend Thomas Davis was recommended, and unanimously +chosen. + +On a motion made that a Secretary be appointed to this general +meeting-- + +_Resolved_, That James Holt and William Roscow Curle be Secretaries. + +_Resolved_, That the Committee of Correspondence do consist of the +following persons, to wit: + +Manuel Calvert, Esq.; Mr. Paul Loyall; Mr. James Parker; Mr. Joseph +Hutchings; Doctor John Ramsay; Mr. Anthony Lawson; Mr. Samuel Boush; +Mr. John Phripp, Jr.; Mr. John Gilchrist; Mr. Lewis Hansford; Mr. John +Lawrence; Mr. John Hutchings, Jr.; Mr. Thomas Newton, Jr.; Mr. Matthew +Phripp. + +And that they or any five of them do make public the resolutions +aforesaid; and take into consideration all matters necessary to be +laid before this society, and make report of their proceedings to the +next general meeting. + +_Resolved_, That this general meeting adjourn till to-morrow nine +o'clock. + + * * * * * + +At a meeting of the Sons of Liberty, continued and held at the +court-house in the town and county of Norfolk, in the colony of +Virginia, on Tuesday, April 1st, 1766-- + +_Resolved_, That we will, on any future occasion, sacrifice our lives +and fortunes, in concurrence with the other Sons of Liberty in the +neighboring provinces, to defend and preserve our invaluable blessings +transmitted to us by our ancestors. + +_Resolved_, That whoever is concerned, directly or indirectly, in +using or causing to be used, in any way or manner whatsoever, within +this colony, (unless authorised by the general assembly thereof,) that +detestable paper called the stamps, shall be deemed to all intents and +purposes, an enemy to his country, and treated by the Sons of Liberty +accordingly. + +_Resolved_, That the thanks of this society be given to Colonel +Richard Bland, for the deep investigation and connective chain of +reasoning set forth in his treatise, justly opposing the rights and +liberties of this colony to the non-existing stamp act. + +_Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to present the thanks of the +Sons of Liberty to Colonel Richard Bland, for his treatise, entitled +"An Enquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies;" and that Mr. +Loyall, Mr. Boush, and Mr. Parker be appointed to draw an address for +that purpose. + +_Resolved_, That this society be adjourned till Friday, the 11th day +of this instant, April. + +T. D. + + J. H. _Secretary_. + W. R. C. _Secretary_. + + * * * * * + +At a Committee of Correspondence of the Sons of Liberty, held at the +court-house in Norfolk, in Virginia, on Wednesday, the 2d April, +1766-- + +Present, Mr. Manuel Calvert; Mr. Paul Loyall; Mr. John Ramsay; Mr. +John Phripp, Jr.; Mr. Lewis Hansford; Mr. John Gilchrist; Mr. John +Lawrence; Mr. John Hutchings, Jr.; Mr. Thomas Newton, Jr. + +A copy of the resolves of the Sons of Liberty having been fairly +transcribed, the same was delivered to Mr. John Hutchings, Jr., who +undertook to deliver the same to the printer of the Virginia Gazette, +and request him to insert the same in his next paper, and make report +to this committee. + + J. H. _Secretary_. + W. R. C. _Secretary_. + +The copy delivered is as follows: + +At a meeting of a considerable number of inhabitants of the town and +county of Norfolk, and others, Sons of Liberty, at the court-house of +the said county, in the colony of Virginia, on Monday, the 31st of +March, 1766-- + +Having taken into consideration the evil tendency of that oppressive +and unconstitutional act of Parliament, commonly called the stamp act; +and being desirous that our sentiments should be known to posterity, +and recollecting that we are a part of that colony who first in +general assembly, openly expressed their detestation to the said act, +(which is pregnant with ruin, and productive of the most pernicious +consequences,) and unwilling to rivet the shackles of slavery and +oppression on ourselves and millions yet unborn, have unanimously come +to the following resolutions-- + +1. _Resolved_, That we acknowledge our sovereign lord and king George +the Third to be our rightful and lawful king, and that we will at all +times, to the utmost of our power and ability, support and defend his +most sacred person, crown and dignity; and will be always ready, when +constitutionally called upon, to assist his majesty with our lives and +fortunes, and defend all his just rights and prerogatives. + +2. _Resolved_, That we will, by all lawful ways and means which Divine +Providence hath put into our hands, defend ourselves in the full +enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to posterity, those inestimable +privileges of all free born British subjects, of being taxed by none +but representatives of their own choosing, and of being tried only by +a jury of their peers; for if we quietly submit to the execution of +the said stamp act, all our claims to civil liberty will be lost, and +we and our posterity become absolute slaves. + +3. _Resolved_, That we will, on any future occasion, sacrifice our +lives and fortunes, in concurrence with the other Sons of Liberty in +the American provinces, to defend and preserve those invaluable +blessings transmitted us by our ancestors. + +4. _Resolved_, That whoever is concerned, directly or indirectly, in +using or causing to be used, in any way or manner whatsoever, within +this colony, unless authorised by the general assembly thereof, those +detestable papers called stamps, shall be deemed to all intents and +purposes, an enemy to his country, and by the Sons of Liberty treated +accordingly. + +5. _Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to present the thanks of +the Sons of Liberty to Colonel Richard Bland, for his treatise, +entitled "An Enquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies." + +6. _Resolved_, That a committee be appointed, who shall make public +the above resolutions, and correspond, as they shall see occasion, +with the associated Sons of, and Friends to Liberty, in the British +colonies in America. + +Copy--Test, + +J. H. _Secretary_. + +[Here ends the record of the proceedings of the Sons of Liberty.] + +[The following is a copy of the original letter in the hand-writing of +Richard Bland, and attached to the above record, in answer to the +letter of thanks written him in obedience to one of the resolves, but +which no where appears on the minutes.] + +_Gentlemen!_ + +The approbation of my Enquiry into the rights of the British Colonies, +by the Norfolk Sons of Liberty, which you have been pleased to +transmit to me in the politest terms, does me a very singular and +unexpected honor, and demands my most sincere acknowledgements, which +I beg leave to return to them with feelings of the warmest gratitude. + +The glorious cause they have united to defend, merits of every true +friend of the colonies the highest sentiments of their virtue. And +though we have the strongest assurance that the violent attacks made +upon our rights and liberties by a late arbitrary and oppressive +minister will soon be removed; yet the noble resolutions entered into +by the Norfolk Sons of Liberty, against the detestable stamp act, will +remain lasting monuments of their patriotic spirit and love to their +country. I am, with particular regard to yourselves, and the deepest +respect to all the members of your association, gentlemen, your much +obliged and very + +RICHARD BLAND. + +_Jordan's May 8th, 1766_. + +To Paul Loyall, Lewis Hansford, and Thomas Newton, Jr. Esqrs. in +Norfolk. + + * * * * * + +_Virginia, Borough of Norfolk, to wit:_ + +I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an old record in +the clerk's office of the Borough aforesaid, endorsed "Proceedings of +the Sons of Liberty at Norfolk, 1766, preserved as a monument of their +patriotic spirit and love to their country." + +I further certify that the said record was found in the said office in +the year 1831, when I became clerk of the Borough court, and tradition +relates that it was deposited there at the date of the transactions +recorded. + +In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 16th +day of January, in the year 1835. + +JOHN WILLIAMS, _C. C._ + + * * * * * + +ATTACK ON WHEELING FORT IN THE YEAR 1777. + +We are indebted to Mr. Abraham Rogers, a distinguished actor in the +scene, and now a resident of this county, for the following +particulars of the attack, by the Indians, in the year 1777, on +Wheeling fort, and the successful defence of that place by twelve men. + +As an interesting incident connected with the early settlement of the +country, and as a tribute of respect and gratitude to the early and +adventurous Pioneers of the west, for their valor, perseverance and +long suffering, it is due to their memory that it should be recorded, +and find a place in the history of our country. + +The fort was situated on the higher bank or bluff, not far from the +place, where the mansion house of the late Noah Zane, Esq., was +subsequently erected. It covered between one half and three quarters +of an acre of ground, and was enclosed with pickets 8 feet high. The +garrison, at the time of the attack, including all who were able to +bear arms, did not exceed 15 in number, and of these several were +between the ages of 12 and 18. The number of women and children is not +known. + +The first intimation the commandant of the fort, (Col. David Shepard) +had of the approach of an enemy, was received the evening before the +attack, from Capt. Ogle, who with Abraham Rodgers, Joseph Biggs, +Robert Lemons and two others, had just arrived from Beech bottom fort, +on the Ohio, about 12 miles from Wheeling. Capt. Ogle, on his approach +to Wheeling, had observed below that place, the appearance of large +volumes of smoke in the atmosphere, which he rightly conjectured was +caused by the burning of Grave creek fort by hostile Indians, and upon +his arrival immediately communicated his suspicions to Col. Shepard, +but it was too late in the evening to reconnoitre. At a very early +hour the next morning, (1st day of September,) the commander of the +fort sent two of his men in a canoe, down the river, to ascertain the +cause of the smoke, and whether any Indians were in the neighborhood. +These two men were massacred by the Indians, (on their return as it +was supposed) at the mouth of Wheeling creek, a few hundred yards +below the fort. In the mean time, an Irish servant and a negro man had +also been sent out to reconnoitre in the immediate vicinity. The +Irishman was decoyed, seized, and killed by the Indians, but the negro +was permitted to escape, who, on his return, gave the first alarm of +the actual approach of the Indians. Capt. Ogle, on the receipt of this +intelligence, accompanied by 15 or 16 of the garrison, leaving but 12 +or 13 in the fort, immediately proceeded towards the mouth of the +creek, in pursuit of the savages. The Indians were lying in ambush, +and permitted the captain and his devoted followers to advance almost +to the creek, when a brisk and most deadly fire was opened upon them; +they fought bravely--desperately; but overpowered by the number of the +enemy, were, all except the captain and two others, killed and +scalped. + +Upon hearing the firing at the creek, Rodgers, Biggs and Lemons, left +the fort to join their comrades, but the work of death was over, their +comrades slaughtered, and the triumphant enemy with a horrid yell, +were rapidly advancing upon the fort. The three were fired upon and +compelled to return. On their arrival at the gate of the fort, so near +were the savages, that it was not without the most imminent danger +that it was opened for their admission. A general attack was then +immediately made on the fort by the whole body of the Indians, +consisting of about 500 men, commanded by the infamous Simon Girty. +The grand assault was from the east side, under cover of a paled +garden, and a few half faced cabins within 40 or 50 yards of the fort, +of which they took possession, and from whence a brisk fire was kept +up until a late hour at night. During the engagement, the Indians +sustained great injury from the bursting of a maple log, which they +had bored like a cannon, and charged to fire upon the fort. + +The little garrison of twelve sustained this protracted siege, from +about 7 o'clock in the morning until 10 or 11 o'clock at night, when +the savages were finally repulsed and obliged to retreat, without +having killed or wounded a single individual in the fort. The loss on +the part of the Indians was variously estimated from twenty to one +hundred, but their dead were principally carried off or concealed, and +a conjecture of the number of the killed, could only be formed from +the great appearance of blood, which was observable for many days +after the battle. The day was fair, and the most of the garrison were +called "sharp shooters," all of whom had a great number of "fair +shots:" it is therefore not improbable that some 30 or 40 of the enemy +were killed, and perhaps many more; for there was a continued firing +during the whole time of the engagement. Every man did his duty, and +all were entitled to an equal meed of praise and thanks from the +commander. But our informant particularly distinguished one person, +who, he said, contributed more to the successful termination of the +issue than any other. This was Mrs. Zane, wife of Ebenezer, and mother +of the late Noah Zane, Esq., who rendered much actual service to the +men, by running bullets, cutting patches, making cartridges, and +hurrying from post to post, cheering and encouraging by her presence, +exhortations and assistance, the sometimes almost exhausted efforts of +the brave defenders of the fort. By her example, zeal and presence of +mind, much assistance was also afforded, by a number of the other +"blessed women" in the fort, (as our informant termed them.) A rapid +fire was continued from the fort, from the commencement of the +assault, until the Indians retired. Their rifles were used until they +become too much heated to handle, when they were obliged to exchange +them for muskets, which were fortunately found in the magazine. This +more than Spartan band of patriots, had no time to take any sustenance +from Sunday, the last day of August, until the 2d September, after the +retreat of the Indians. + +When it is considered that the Indians were led to the attack by the +noted Simon Girty, a man who had much experience in the art of savage +warfare, that he mustered more than 500 veteran warriors, and that the +fort was defended by 12, and those chiefly old men and boys; the +successful and glorious defence of the fort, by that little band of +western pioneers; their names will richly merit a place in the page of +history, with the most renowned heroes of the "olden time." + +We much regret, that from a want of acquaintance with the localities +of the place, as well as from other circumstances, we have been unable +to do full justice to this subject; but we are not without a hope, +that some more experienced pen will take a hint from these crude +remarks, and redeem from oblivion this memorable event. + + + + +The Editor of the New York Evening Star is so well known and so highly +estimated as a political writer, that we believe there is no party +which does not feel the stronger for his friendship--or does not +experience some dread from his opposition. His genius, however, does +not exclusively delight in the _carte and tierce_ of political strife. +He has an infinite fund of strong common sense and racy humor, and +withal an uncommon power of description, which he employs with great +effect in hitting off the manners of the age, and rebuking those +pernicious innovations which are making such sad havoc with our +antient simplicity. In the following article, he depicts with +admirable force the evil consequences which, in our large cities +especially, are likely to flow from an unrestrained indulgence in the +follies and extravagancies of fashion. + +FASHIONABLE PARTIES AND LATE HOURS. + +BY M. M. NOAH. + + +We are killing ourselves in this country by inches, and that for a +tall man or an amazonian woman, is a dreadful reflection. In sooth, +our late hours break in terribly on real comfort, sound health, and +that refreshing sleep which "seals up the eyelids" in calm and soft +repose, and ministers to our real enjoyments. We marvel why _fashion_, +instead of being represented in bewitching and attractive colors, is +not drawn with a Medusa's head, fiery eyes and snaky crest--or, under +the silken cowl and wreaths of roses, a skeleton head peeping out as a +warning--a caution in time--a _memento mori_. In this country we eat +and dance ourselves to death with much more rapidity than they do at +the Sandwich Islands. + +I met a friend on the _pave_ last week, who said, "Will you come to +our party to-morrow night?" "A party? How? Comfortable dish of tea, +game of whist, glass of whiskey-punch, and a sandwich, eh." "Oh, no--a +real tearer--a regular turnout--been preparing a fortnight. I must +give a couple every year for the sake of the world you know." "The +world, ha! Well, I'll come, and if I don't, you won't miss me in the +squeeze. Tell me, for old acquaintance sake, how much will the party +cost?" "Why, about fifteen hundred dollars." "Fifteen hundred dollars! +Prodigious! How many charming _tertulias_ in Spain, _converzaziones_ +in Italy, and _soirees_ in France, would fifteen hundred dollars +procure?--and all this sum swallowed up in one dancing frolic!" + +I determined to go, and a friend promised to call for me in his +carriage. I was ready at seven, and sat quietly until nine--half past +nine--ten; when, just as I was ringing for my slippers, and preparing, +as Monsieur Morbleu says, for my night-caps, _rat-tat-tat_ goes the +coachman, and in walked my friend--pumps and tight pants on--white +gloves and perfumed handkerchief. "So, sir, a pretty time you have +called for me; why I have been ready since seven o'clock." "Seven +o'clock! why bless you, the company only begin to assemble at ten; and +even now we are rather early." "Early, do you call it? Go out to spend +the evening at half past ten o'clock! Well, well, I suppose we must +not be out of the fashion--so come along." + +Our carriage rattled up one of the principal streets, and a glare of +light was showered in all directions from the house. We fell in behind +a range of coaches, and had to wait until our turn, and found, on +alighting, a retinue of yellow servants to usher us in the mansion; to +take our coats, hats, and canes, and prepare us in form for the +_entree_. Every thing was elegant--gayety, fashion, and pleasure +reigned triumphant; beauty, in resplendent beams, shed its halo over +the scene; plenty, from its golden horn, was poured forth in all +directions; music, and the giddy dance, were kept up with unabated +vigor, until the russet morn had nearly flickered the east. I got +home; tossed and tumbled for two or three hours in bed, and then rose +for the duties of the day. + +Having occasion to call on an old gentleman about twelve o'clock, I +found him in his parlor, with the breakfast table before him. "What, +not breakfasted yet?" "O yes, long ago--this is for my daughters, who +came from the party about three o'clock, and are not yet up." In a few +minutes the young ladies entered; but oh, how altered!--where were the +bounding step and elastic gait--the brilliant eye, the jocund +smile--the silken attire--the well-dressed hair, and jewelled form of +last night's entertainment? They were pallid and exhausted--their eye, +their hair, their dress, all _en dishabille_--both with a hectic +cough--both looking as wo-begone and spiritless as if they had just +escaped from the siege of Troy.--"Have you slept well, girls?" said +the anxious parent. "Not a wink, father--we tossed and tumbled and +worried for several hours, but not a wink of sleep--oh, my head, my +head--and oh, my bones, my bones." "Probably your restlessness arose +from eating too heartily at supper."--"No such thing, father--why, I +only ate a little chicken salad, a wing of turkey, some jelly, a few +macaronies and mottoes, a dozen pickled oysters, and drank a few +glasses of champaign, that's all--excepting a sponge cake or two, and +a glass of lemonade, during dancing, and a little ginger sweetmeats. +There's Lizzy ate twice as much as I did." "No I didn't, but I was +more select, father; a few slices of cold tongue--a piece of a-la-mode +beef--three pickles--a few olives, some _blanc mange_--two plates of +ice-cream--a little floating island--some truffles and bons bons--and +oranges, plum-cake, and custard during the evening. I'm sure I don't +care much for solids." "And did you dance after supper?" "To be sure +we did; one cotillion, one contra dance, the mazourka and a +gallopade." The murder's out! no wonder at head-aches, and bone-aches, +and heart-aches, and sleepless hours, after so much eating; and then +dancing on so much eating--churning these singular masses of food and +contradictory condiments in a delicate female stomach, with scarcely +sufficient gastric juice to digest the wing of a pheasant.--That's the +way our girls kill themselves prematurely; that's the cause of our +heavy weekly lists of interments; of the many cases of consumption, +uncharitably carried to the credit of our climate. Alas! how many +charming women are hurried to the grave by carelessness; by the +bewitching attractions of fashion; by keeping late hours; by thin +clothing, and by eating too much! The observation made by strangers +is, "how pale and thin your ladies are!" Why will they not have +resolution enough to discard these seducing and destructive +allurements; why not enjoy life soberly, discreetly, prudently? + +What can be more agonizing to true affection than to see the girl +nourished with tenderness in infancy; amiable, intelligent, and +accomplished, gradually sinking into the grave ere she reaches the age +of womanhood? The pride and delight of fond parents and numerous +friends, the rose which early bloomed, daily fading in the brilliancy +of its colors, and drooping like the lily of the vale? To see the eye, +once so brilliant, sunken, heavy, and dull; and the lips, once so +ruby, now thin and pallid? To witness the being so beloved, so +cherished, the victim of slow, but unerring disease, not +constitutional, but brought on by neglect, by fashion? To see the +vision recede from the sight, step by step, until evening frowns upon +its setting glory, and the tomb closes upon it forever! + + + + +PRIDE, ENVY, AND HATE. + + +If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others +excel you. There is a diabolical trio, existing in the _natural_ man, +implacable, inextinguishable, co-operative, and consentaneous, Pride, +Envy, and Hate. Pride, that makes us fancy we deserve all the goods +that others possess; Envy, that some should be admired, while we are +overlooked; and Hate, because all that is bestowed on others, +diminishes the sum that we think due to ourselves.--[_Lacon_. + + + + +We extract the following eloquent and pathetic narrative from the +pages of the "Western Monthly Magazine," published at Cincinnati, +Ohio; and we invite our readers, especially those of the "softer sex," +to give it a perusal. + +THE VILLAGE PASTOR'S WIFE. + + +What impels me to take up my pen, compose myself to the act of +writing, and begin the record of feelings and events which will +inevitably throw a shadow over the character which too partial and +misjudging affection once beheld shining with reflected lustre? I know +not--but it seems to me, as if a divine voice whispered from the +boughs that wave by my window, occasionally intercepting the sun's +rays that now fall obliquely on my paper, saying, that if I live for +memory, I must not live in vain--and that, perchance, when I, too, lie +beneath the willow that hangs over _his_ grave, unconscious of its +melancholy waving, a deep moral may be found in these pages, short and +simple as they may be. Then be it so. It is humiliating to dwell on +past errors--but I should rather welcome the humiliation, if it can be +any expiation for my blindness, my folly--no! such expressions are too +weak--I should say, my madness, my sin, my hard-hearted guilt. + +It is unnecessary to dwell on my juvenile years. Though dependent on +the bounty of an uncle, who had a large family of his own to support, +every wish which vanity could suggest, was indulged as soon as +expressed. I never knew a kinder, more hospitable, uncalculating +being, than my uncle. If his unsparing generosity had not experienced +a counteracting influence in the vigilant economy of my aunt, he would +long since have been a bankrupt. She was never unkind to me; for I +believe she was conscientious, and she had loved my mother tenderly. I +was the orphan legacy of that mother, and consequently a sacred trust. +I was fed and clothed like my wealthier cousins; educated at the same +schools; ushered into the same fashionable society; where I learned +that awkwardness was considered the only unpardonable offence, and +that almost any thing might be said and done, provided it was said and +done gracefully. From the time of our first introduction into what is +called the world, I gradually lost ground in the affections of my +aunt, for I unfortunately eclipsed my elder cousins in those outer +gifts of nature and those acquired graces of manner, which, however +valueless, when unaccompanied by inward worth, have always exercised a +prevailing, an irresistible influence in society. I never exactly knew +why, but I was the favorite of my uncle, who seemed to love me better +than even his own daughters, and he rejoiced at the admiration I +excited, though often purchased at their expense. Perhaps the secret +was this. They were of a cold temperament; mine was ardent, and +whatever I loved, I loved without reserve, and expressed my affection +with characteristic warmth and enthusiasm. I loved my indulgent uncle +with all the fervor of which such a nature, made vain and selfish by +education, is capable. Often, after returning from an evening party, +my heart throbbing high with the delight of gratified vanity, when he +would draw me towards him and tell me--with most injudicious fondness, +it is true--that I was a thousand times prettier than the flowers I +wore, more sparkling than the jewels, and that I ought to marry a +prince or a nabob, I exulted more in his praise, than in the +flatteries that were still tingling in my ears. Even my aunt's +coolness was a grateful tribute to my self-love--for was it not +occasioned by my transcendency over her less gifted daughters? + +But why do I linger on the threshold of events, which, simple in +themselves, stamped my destiny--for time, yea, and for eternity. + +It was during a homeward journey, with my uncle, I first met him, who +afterwards became my husband. My whole head becomes sick and my whole +heart faint, as I think what I might have been, and what I am. But I +must forbear. If I am compelled at times to lay aside my pen, overcome +with agony and remorse, let me pause till I can go on, with a steady +hand, and a calmer brain. + +Our carriage broke down--it was a common accident--a young gentleman +on horseback, who seemed like ourselves a traveller, came up to our +assistance. He dismounted, proffered every assistance in his power, +and accompanied us to the inn, which fortunately was not far distant, +for my uncle was severely injured, and walked with difficulty, though +supported by the stranger's arm and my own. I cannot define the +feeling, but from the moment I beheld him, my spirit was troubled +within me. I saw, at once, that he was of a different order of beings +from those I had been accustomed to associate with; and there was +something in the heavenly composure of his countenance and gentle +dignity of manner, that rebuked my restless desire for admiration and +love of display. I never heard any earthly sound so sweet as his +voice. Invisible communion with angels could alone give such tones to +the human voice. At first, I felt a strange awe in his presence, and +forgot those artificial graces, for which I had been too much admired. +Without meaning to play the part of a hypocrite, my real disposition +was completely concealed. During the three days we were detained, he +remained with us; and aloof from all temptation to folly, the best +traits of my character were called into exercise. On the morning of +our departure, as my uncle was expressing his gratitude for his +kindness, and his hope of meeting him in town, he answered--and it was +not without emotion--'I fear our paths diverge too much, to allow that +hope. Mine is a lowly one, but I trust I shall find it blest.' I then, +for the first time learned that he was a minister--the humble pastor +of a country village. My heart died within me. That this graceful and +uncommonly interesting young man should be nothing more than an +obscure village preacher--it was too mortifying. All my bright visions +of conquest faded away. 'We can never be any thing to each other,' +thought I. Yet as I again turned towards him, and saw his usually calm +eye fixed on me with an expression of deep anxiety, I felt a +conviction that I might be all the world to him. He was watching the +effect of his communication, and the glow of excited vanity that +suffused my cheek was supposed to have its origin from a purer source. +I was determined to enjoy the full glory of my conquest. When my uncle +warmly urged him to accompany us home, and sojourn with us a few days, +I backed the invitation with all the eloquence my countenance was +capable of expressing. Vain and selfish being that I was--I might have +known that we differed from each other as much as the rays of the +morning star from the artificial glare of the skyrocket. _He_ drew his +light from the fountain of living glory, _I_ from the decaying fires +of earth. + +The invitation was accepted--and before that short visit was +concluded, so great was the influence he acquired over me, while _I_ +was only seeking to gain the ascendancy over _his_ affections, that I +felt willing to give up the luxury and fashion that surrounded me, for +the sweet and quiet hermitage he described, provided the sacrifice +were required. I never once thought of the duties that would devolve +upon me, the solemn responsibilities of my new situation. It is one of +the mysteries of Providence, how such a being as myself could ever +have won a heart like his. He saw the sunbeam playing on the surface, +and thought that all was fair beneath. I did love him; but my love was +a passion, not a principle. I was captivated by the heavenly graces of +his manner, but was incapable of comprehending the source whence those +graces were derived. + +My uncle would gladly have seen me established in a style more +congenial to my prevailing taste, but gave his consent, as he said, on +the score of his surpassing merit. My aunt was evidently more than +willing to have me married, while my cousins rallied me, for falling +in love with a country parson. + +We were married. I accompanied him to the beautiful village of ----. I +became mistress of the parsonage. Never shall I forget the moment when +I first entered this avenue, shaded by majestic elms; beheld these +low, white walls, festooned with redolent vines; and heard the voice, +which was then the music of my life, welcome me here, as Heaven's best +and loveliest gift. How happy--how blest I might have been! and I +_was_ happy for awhile. His benign glance and approving smile were, +for a short time, an equivalent for the gaze of admiration and strains +of flattery to which I had been accustomed. I even tried, in some +measure, to conform to his habits and tastes, and to cultivate the +good will of the plebians and rustics who constituted a great portion +of his parish. But the mind, unsupported by principle, is incapable of +any steady exertion. Mine gradually wearied of the effort of assuming +virtues, to which it had no legitimate claim. The fervor of feeling +which had given a bluer tint to the sky and a fairer hue to the +flower, insensibly faded. I began to perceive defects in every object, +and to wonder at the blindness which formerly overlooked them. I still +loved my husband; but the longer I lived with him, the more his +character soared above the reach of mine. I could not comprehend, how +one could be endowed with such brilliant talents and winning graces, +and not wish for the admiration of the world. I was vexed with him for +his meekness and humility, and would gladly have mingled, if I could, +the base alloy of earthly ambition with his holy aspirations after +heaven. I was even jealous--I almost tremble while I write it--of the +God he worshipped. I could not bear the thought, that I held a second +place in his affections--though second only to the great and glorious +Creator. Continually called from my side to the chamber of the sick, +the couch of the dying, the dwelling of the poor and ignorant, I in +vain sought to fill up the widening vacuum left, by becoming +interested in the duties of my station. I could not do it. They became +every day more irksome to me. The discontent I was cherishing, became +more and more visible, till the mild and anxious eye of my husband +vainly looked for the joyous smile that used to welcome his return. + +It is true, there were many things I was obliged to tolerate, which +must inevitably be distasteful to one, educated with such false +refinement as I have been. But I never reflected they must be as +opposed to my husband's tastes as my own, and that christian principle +alone led him to the endurance of them. Instead of appreciating his +angelic patience and forbearance, I blamed him for not lavishing more +sympathy on me for trials which, though sometimes ludicrous in +themselves, are painful from the strength of association. + +The former minister of the village left a maiden sister as a kind of +legacy to his congregation. My husband had been a protegee and pupil +of the good man, who, on his death-bed, bequeathed his people to the +charge of this son of his adoption, and _him_, with equal tenderness +and solemnity, to the care of his venerable sister. She became a +fixture in the parsonage, and to me a perpetual and increasing +torment. The first month of our marriage, she was absent, visiting +some of her seventh cousins in a neighboring town. I do not wish to +exculpate myself from blame; but, if ever there was a thorn in human +flesh, I believe I had found it in this inquisitive, gratuitously +advising woman. I, who had always lived among roses, without thinking +of briars, was doomed to feel this thorn, daily, hourly, goading me; +and was constrained to conceal as much as possible the irritation she +caused, because my husband treated her with as much respect as if she +were an empress. I thought Mr. L---- was wrong in this. Owing to the +deep placidity of his own disposition, he could not realize what a +trial such a companion was to a mercurial, indulged, self-willed being +as myself. Nature has gifted me with an exquisite ear for music, and a +discord always 'wakes the nerve where agony is born.' Poor aunt Debby +had a perfect mania for singing, and she would sit and sing for hours +together, old fashioned ballads and hymns of surprising +length--scarcely pausing to take breath. I have heard aged people sing +the songs of Zion, when there was most touching melody in their tones; +and some of the warmest feelings of devotion I ever experienced, were +awakened by these solemn, trembling notes. But aunt Debby's voice was +full of indescribable ramifications, each a separate discord--a sharp +sour voice, indicative of the natural temper of the owner. One Sunday +morning, after she had been screeching one of Dr. Watts' hymns, of +about a hundred verses, she left me to prepare for church. When we +met, after finishing our separate toilettes, she began her +animadversions on my dress, as being too gay for a minister's wife. I +denied the charge; for though made in the redundance of fashion, it +was of unadorned white. 'But what,' said she, disfiguring the muslin +folds with her awkward fingers, 'what is the use of all these +fandangles of lace? They are nothing but Satan's devices to lead +astray silly women, whose minds are running after finery.' All this I +might have borne with silent contempt, for it came from aunt Debby; +but when she brought the authority of a Mrs. Deacon and a Mrs. Doelan +of the parish to prove that she was not the only one who found fault +with the fashion of my attire, the indignant spirit broke its bounds; +deference for age was forgotten in the excitement of the moment, and +the concentrated irritation of weeks burst forth. I called her an +impertinent, morose old maid, and declared that one or the other of us +should leave the parsonage. In the midst of the paroxysm, my husband +entered--the calm of heaven on his brow. He had just left his closet, +where he had been to seek the divine manna for the pilgrims it was his +task to guide through the wilderness of life. He looked from one to +the other, in grief and amazement. Aunt Debby had seated herself on +his entrance, and began to rock herself backward and forward, and to +sigh and groan--saying it was a hard thing to be called such hard +names at her time of life, &c. I stood, my cheeks glowing with anger, +and my heart violently palpitating with the sudden effort at +self-control. He approached me, took my hand, and said, 'My dear +Mary!' There was affection in his tone, but there was upbraiding, +also; and drawing away my hand, I wept in bitterness of spirit. As +soon as I could summon sufficient steadiness of voice, I told him the +cause of my resentment, and declared, that I would never again enter a +place, where I was exposed to ridicule and censure, and from those, +too, so immeasurably my inferiors in birth and education. 'Dearest +Mary!' exclaimed he, turning pale from agitation, 'you cannot mean +what you say. Let not such trifles as these, mar the peace of this +holy day. I grieve that your feelings should have been wounded; but +what matters it what the world says of our outward apparel, if our +souls are clothed with those robes of holiness, which make us lovely +in our Maker's eyes? Let us go together to the temple of Him, whose +last legacy to man was _peace_.' Though the bell was ringing its last +notes, and though I saw him so painfully disturbed, I still resisted +the appeal, and repeated my rash asseveration. The bell had pealed its +latest summons, and was no longer heard. 'Mary, must I go alone?' His +hand was on the latch--there was a burning flush on his cheek, such as +I had never seen before. My pride would have yielded--my conscience +convicted me of wrong--I would have acknowledged my rashness, had not +aunt Debby, whom I thought born to be my evil spirit, risen with a +long-drawn sigh, and taken his arm, preparatory to accompany him. +'No,' said I, 'you will not be alone. You need not wait for me. In +aunt Debby's company, you cannot regret mine.' + +Surely my heart must have been steeled, like Pharaoh's, for some +divine purpose, or I never could have resisted the mute anguish of his +glance, as he closed the door on this cold and unmerited taunt. What +hours of wretchedness I passed in the solitude of my chamber. I +magnified my sufferings into those of martyrdom, and accused Mr. L---- +of not preparing me for the trials of my new situation. Yet, even +while I reproached him in my heart, I was conscious of my injustice, +and felt that I did not suffer alone. It was the first time any other +than words of love and kindness had passed between us, and it seemed +to me, that a barrier was beginning to rise, that would separate us +forever. When we again met, I tried to retain the same cold manner and +averted countenance, but he came unaccompanied by my tormenter, and +looked so dejected and pale, my petulance and pride yielded to the +reign of better feelings. I had even the grace to make concessions, +which were received with such gratitude and feeling, I was melted into +goodness, transient, but sincere. Had aunt Debby remained from us, all +might yet have been well; but after having visited awhile among the +parish, she returned; and her presence choked the blossoms of my good +resolutions. I thought she never forgave the offending epithet I had +given her in the moment of passion. It is far from my intention, in +delineating peculiarities like hers, to throw any opprobrium on that +class of females, who from their isolated and often unprotected +situation, are peculiarly susceptible to the shafts of unkindness or +ridicule. I have known those, whose influence seemed as diffusive as +the sunshine and gentle as the dew; at whose approach the ringlets of +childhood would be tossed gaily back, and the wan cheek of the aged +lighted up with joy; who had devoted the glow of their youth, and the +strength of their prime, to acts of filial piety and love, watching +the waning fires of life, as the vestal virgins the flame of the +altar. Round such beings as these, the beatitudes cluster; and yet the +ban of unfeeling levity is passed upon the maiden sisterhood. But I +wander from my path. It is not _her_ history I am writing, so much as +my own; which, however deficient in incident, is not without its moral +power. + +I experienced one source of mortification, which I have not yet +mentioned; it may even seem too insignificant to be noticed, and yet +it was terribly grating to my aristocratic feelings. Some of our good +parishioners were in the habit of lavishing attentions, so repugnant +to me, that I did not hesitate to refuse them; which I afterwards +learned, gave great mortification and displeasure. I would willingly +accept a basket of fragrant strawberries, or any of the elegant +bounties of nature; but, when they offered such plebeian gifts as a +shoulder of pork or mutton, a sack of grain or potatoes, _I_ +invariably returned my cold thanks and declined the honor. Is it +strange, that I should become to them an object of aversion, and that +they should draw comparisons, humbling to me, between their idolized +minister and his haughty bride? + +My uncle and cousins made me a visit, not long after my rupture with +aunt Debby, which only served to render me more unhappy. My uncle +complained so much of my altered appearance, my faded bloom and +languid spirits, I saw that it gave exquisite pain to Mr. L----, while +my cousins, now in their day of power, amused themselves continually +with the old fashioned walls of the house, the obsolete style of the +furniture, and my humdrum mode of existence. Had I possessed one spark +of heavenly fire, I should have resented all this as an insult to him +whom I had solemnly vowed to love and honor. These old fashioned walls +should have been sacred in my eyes. They were twice hallowed--hallowed +by the recollections of departed excellence and the presence of living +holiness. Every leaf of the magnificent elms that overshadowed them, +should have been held sacred, for the breath of morning and evening +prayer had been daily wafted over them, up to the mercy-seat of +heaven. + +I returned with my uncle to the metropolis. It is true, he protested +that he would not, could not leave me behind--and that change of scene +was absolutely necessary to the restoration of my bloom, and Mr. L---- +gave his assent with apparent cheerfulness and composure. But I +knew--I felt that his heart bled at my willingness, my wish to be +absent from him, so soon after our marriage. He told me to consult my +own happiness, in the length of my visit, and that he would endeavor +to find a joy in solitude, in thinking of mine. 'Oh!' said one of my +cousins, with a loud laugh, 'you can never feel solitary, when aunt +Debby is'-- + +Behold me once more 'mid the scenes congenial to my soul--a gay +flower, sporting over the waves of fashion, thoughtless of the caverns +of death beneath. Again the voice of flattery fell meltingly on my +ear; and while listening to the siren, I forgot those mild, +admonishing accents, which were always breathing of heaven--or if I +remembered them at all, they came to my memory like the grave rebuke +of Milton's cherub--severe in their beauty. Yes, I did remember them +when I was alone; and there are hours when the gayest will feel +desolately alone. I thought of him in his neglected home; him, from +whom I was gradually alienating myself for his very perfections, and +accusing conscience avenged his rights. Oh! how miserable, how poor we +are, when unsupported by our own esteem! when we fear to commune with +our own hearts, and doubly tremble to bear them to the all-seeing eye +of our Maker! My husband often wrote me most affectionately. He did +not urge my return, but said, whenever I felt willing to exchange the +pleasures of the metropolis for the seclusion of the hermitage, his +arms and his heart were open to receive me. At length I received a +letter, which touched those chords, that yet vibrated to the tones of +nature and feeling. He seldom spoke of himself--but in this, he +mentioned having been very ill, though then convalescent. 'Your +presence, my Mary,' said he, 'would bring healing on its wings. I +fear, greatly fear, I have doomed you to unhappiness, by rashly +yielding to the influence of your beauty and winning manners, taking +advantage of your simplicity and inexperience, without reflecting how +unfitted you were, from natural disposition and early habits, to be a +fellow-laborer in so humble a portion of our Master's vineyard. Think +not, my beloved wife, I say this in reproach. No! 'tis in sorrow, in +repentance, in humiliation of spirit. I have been too selfish. I have +not shown sufficient sympathy for the trials and vexations to which, +for me, you have been exposed. I have asked to receive too much. I +have given back too little. Return then, my Mary; you were created for +nobler purposes than the beings who surround you. Let us begin life +anew. Let us take each other by the hand as companions for time--but +pilgrims for eternity. Be it mine to guard, guide, and sustain--yours, +to console, to gild and comfort.' In a postscript, he added: + +'I am better now--a journey will restore me. I will soon be with you, +when I trust we will not again be parted.' + +My heart was not of rock. It was moved--melted. I should have been +less than human, to have been untouched by a letter like this. All my +romantic love, but so recently chilled, returned; and I thought of his +image as that of an angel's. Ever impulsive, ever actuated by the +passion of the moment, I made the most fervent resolutions of +amendment, and panted for the hour when we should start for, together, +this immortal goal! Alas! how wavering were my purposes--how +ineffective my holy resolutions. + + * * * * * + +There was a numerous congregation gathered on the Sabbath morn, not in +the simple village church, but the vaulted walls of a city dome. A +stranger ascended the pulpit. Every eye was turned on him and none +wandered. He was pallid, as from recent indisposition; but there was a +flitting glow on his cheek, the herald of coming inspiration. There +was a divine simplicity, a sublime fervor, an abandonment of self, a +lifting up of the soul to heaven, an indescribable and spiritual +charm, pervading his manner, that was acknowledged by the breathless +attention of a crowded audience, composed of the wealth and fashion of +the metropolis. And I was there, the proudest, the happiest of the +throng. That gifted being was my husband. I was indemnified for all +past mortifications, and looked forward to bright years of felicity, +not in the narrow path we had heretofore travelled, but a wider, more +brilliant sphere. My imagination placed him at the head of that +admiring congregation; and I saw the lowly flock he had been lately +feeding, weeping, unpitied, between the porch and the altar. + +Before we bade farewell to my uncle, I had abundant reason to believe +my vision would soon be realized. The church was then without a +pastor. No candidate had as yet appeared in whom their opinions or +affections were united. They were enthusiastic in their admiration of +Mr. L----, and protested against the obscurity of his location. With +such hopes gilding the future, I left the metropolis with a +cheerfulness and elasticity of spirits, which my husband hailed as a +surety for long years of domestic felicity. I would gladly linger here +awhile. I fear to go on. You have followed me so far with a kind of +complaisant interest, as a poor, vain, weak young creature, whose +native defects have been enhanced by education, and who has +unfortunately been placed in a sphere she is incapable of adorning. +The atmosphere is too pure, too rarified. Removed at once from the +valley of sin to the mount of holiness, I breathe with difficulty the +celestial air, and pant for more congenial regions. Must I proceed? +Your compassion will turn to detestation: yet I cannot withdraw from +the task I have imposed on myself. It is an expiatory one; and oh, may +it be received as such! + +It was scarcely more than a week after our return. All had been peace +and sunshine: so resolved was I to be all that was lovely and amiable, +I even listened with apparent patience to aunt Debby's interminable +hymns, and heard some of her long stories, the seventy-seventh time, +without any manifest symptom of vexation. It was about sunset. We sat +together in the study, my husband and myself, watching the clouds as +they softly rolled towards the sinking sun, to dip their edges in his +golden beams. The boughs of the elms waved across the window, giving +us glimpses of the beautiful vale beyond, bounded by the blue outline +of the distant hills. Whether it was the warm light reflected on his +face, or the glow of the heart suffusing it, I know not, but I never +saw his usually pale features more radiantly lighted up than at that +moment. A letter was brought to him. I leaned over his shoulder while +he opened it. From the first line I understood its import: it was the +realization of my hopes. The offer was there made--more splendid, more +liberal than I had dared to anticipate. I did not speak: but with +cheeks burning and hands trembling with eagerness and joy, I waited +till he had perused it. He still continued silent. Almost indignant at +his calmness, I ejaculated his name in an impatient tone; when he +raised his eyes from the paper and fixed them on me. I read there the +death-blow of my hopes. They emitted no glance of triumph: there was +sorrow, regret, humility, and love--but I looked in vain for more. 'I +am sorry for this,' said he, 'for your sake, my dear Mary. It may +excite wishes, which can never be realized. No! let us be happy in the +lowlier sphere, in which an All-wise Being has marked my course. I +cannot deviate from it.' 'Cannot!' repeated I: 'say, rather, you will +not.' I could not articulate more. The possibility of a refusal on his +part had never occurred to me. I was thunderstruck. He saw my +emotion--and, losing all his composure, rose and crushed the letter in +his hand. 'I could not, if I would, accept this,' he cried; 'and, were +my own wishes to be alone consulted, I would not, were I free to act. +But it is not so. I am bound to this place, by a solemn promise, which +cannot be broken. Here, in this very house it was made, by the dying +bed of the righteous, who bequeathed the people he loved to _my_ +charge--_me_, the orphan he had protected and reared. "Never leave +them, my son," said the expiring saint--"never leave the lambs of my +flock to be scattered on the mountains." I pledged my word, surrounded +by the solemnities of death: yea, even while his soul was taking its +upward flight. It is recorded, and cannot be recalled.' + +Did I feel the sacredness of the obligation he revealed? Did I +venerate the sanctity of his motives, and admit their authority? No! +Totally unprepared for such a bitter disappointment, when I seemed +touching the summit of all my wishes, I was maddened--reckless. I +upbraided him for having more regard to a dead guardian, who could no +longer be affected by his decision, than for a living wife. I +threatened to leave him to the obscurity in which he was born, and +return to the friends who loved me so much better than himself. Seeing +him turn deadly pale at this, and suddenly put his hand on his heart, +I thought I had discovered the spring to move his resolution, and +determined that I would not let it go. I moved towards the door, +thinking it best to leave him a short time to his own reflections, +assured that love must be victorious over conscience. He made a motion +as if to detain me, as I passed--then again pressed his hand on his +heart. That silent motion--never, never, can I forget it! 'Are you +resolved on this?' asked he, in a low, very hoarse tone of voice. +'Yes, if you persist in your refusal. I leave you to decide.' I went +into the next room. I heard him walk a few moments, as if agitated and +irresolute--then suddenly stop. I then heard a low, suppressed cough, +but to this he was always subject, when excited, and it caused no +emotion. Yet, after remaining alone for some time, I began to be +alarmed at the perfect stillness. A strange feeling of horror came +over me. I remembered the deadly paleness of his countenance, and the +cold dew gathered fast and thick on my brow. I recollected, too, that +he had told me of once having bled at the lungs, and of being +admonished to shun every predisposing cause to such a malady. Strange, +that after such an entire oblivion of every thing but self, these +reflections should have pressed upon me, with such power, at that +moment. I seemed suddenly gifted with second sight, and feared to +move, lest I should see the vision of my conscience embodied. At +length, aunt Debby opened the door, and for the first time, rejoicing +in her sight, _I_ entreated her to go into the library, with an +earnestness that appalled her. She did go--and her first sharp scream +drew me to her side. There, reclined upon the sofa, motionless, +lifeless--his face, white as a snow-drift, lay my husband; his +neck-cloth and vest, saturated with the blood that still flowed from +his lips. Yes, he lay there--lifeless, dead, dead! The wild shriek of +agony and remorse pierced not his unconscious ear. He was dead, and +_I_ was his murderer. The physician who was summoned, pronounced my +doom. From violent agitation of mind, a blood vessel had been broken, +and instant death had ensued. Weeks of frenzy, months of despair, +succeeded--of black despair. Nothing but an almighty arm thrown around +my naked soul, held me back from the brink of suicide. Could I have +believed in annihilation--and I wrestled with the powers of reason to +convince myself that in the grave, at least, I should find rest. I +prayed but for rest--I prayed for oblivion. Night and day the image of +that bleeding corse was before me. Night and day a voice was ringing +in my ears, '_Thou hast murdered him!_' My sufferings were so fearful +to witness, the at first compassionate neighbors deserted my pillow, +justifying themselves by the conviction that I merited all that I +endured. + +My uncle and aunt came when they first heard the awful tidings, but +unable to support my raving distress, left me--after providing every +thing for my comfort--with the injunction that as soon as I should be +able to be removed, to be carried to their household. And whose kind, +unwearied hand smoothed my lonely pillow, and held my aching brow? +Who, when wounded reason resumed her empire, applied the balm of +Gilead and the oil of tenderness; led me to the feet of the divine +Physician, prayed with me and for me, wept with me and over me, nor +rested till she saw me clinging to the cross, in lowliness of spirit, +with the seal of the children of God in my forehead, and the joy of +salvation in my soul? It was aunt Debby. The harsh condemner of the +fashions of this world, the stern reprover of vanity and pride, the +uncompromising defender of godliness and truth; she who in my day of +prosperity was the cloud, in the night of sorrow was my light and +consolation. The rough bark was penetrated and the finer wood beneath +gave forth its fragrance. Oh! how often, as I have heard her, seated +by my bedside, explaining in a voice softened by kindness, the +mysteries of holiness, and repeating the promises of mercy, have I +wondered, that I, who had turned a deaf ear to the same truths, when +urged upon me with all an angel's eloquence, should listen with +reverence to accents from which I had heretofore turned in disgust. +Yet, at times, there seemed a dignity in her tones; her harsh features +would light up with an expression of devout ecstacy, and I marvelled +at the transforming power of christianity. Well may I marvel! I would +not now, for the diadem of the east, exchange this sequestered +hermitage for the halls of fashion--these hallowed shades for the +canopies of wealth--or the society of the once despised and hated aunt +Debby, for the companionship of flatterers. I see nothing but thorns +where once roses blushed. The voice of the charmer has lost its power, +though 'it charm never so wisely.' My heart lies buried in the tomb on +which the sunlight now solemnly glimmers--my hopes are fixed on those +regions from whence those rays depart. Had he only lived to forgive +me--to know my penitence and agony--but the last words that ever fell +on his ear from my lips, were those of passion and rebellion--the last +glance I ever cast on him, was proud and upbraiding. + +The sketch is finished--memory overpowers me. + +C. L. H. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THOUGHTS ON AFFECTATION. + + _For the benefit of all whom they may concern_. + + +Affectation, as defined by Johnson, is "an artificial show, an +elaborate appearance, a false pretence,"--"affected, studied with +overmuch care, or with hypocritical appearance." The terms of this +definition are so revolting, that the justice of its ascription to any +individual, however felt, can scarcely be expected to be acknowledged +by such, because it too deeply wounds self-love, its natural parent. +Studiously disguised from ourselves, it is vainly believed to be so +from others. Let us compare the utmost advantages to be derived from +its adoption, with its peril and its loss. Do we really hope to +improve by it, those qualities, moral, intellectual or physical, with +which the bounty of nature has distinctively gifted us? Or do we hope +by "an artificial show, an elaborate appearance, a false pretence," to +obtain credit with others for attributes which do not belong to us? +and with the deceitful appearance of which, (_provided_ it deceive,) +we shall be basely content; thus falsely laboring for the attainment +of a vain shadow, when the same labor honestly bestowed, would give us +the real substance of all we ought to desire, viz: that solid +improvement of the heart and mind, around which ever play, as their +natural consequences, the most captivating of all graces--_simplicity +and truth_. Viewed simply as matter of taste, can any thing short of +its vilest corruption, its lowest degradation, induce a preference for +a clumsy counterfeit, a hand-maiden, who impudently usurping the place +of her mistress, presumes to play high life below stairs, over her +noble mistress, arrayed in her simple majesty? What monstrous +perversion can prompt us to turn the latter out of doors, and hug to +our bosoms so vile an intruder? With what bribes does she corrupt the +loyalty of her fair advocates? With what store of "quips and quirks, +and wreathed smiles?" with what rich caskets of bright gems, +counterfeit or stolen; with what rare graces, unmatched by those even +of her injured and abused mistress, which she boldly pronounces _fade +and obsolete_? Alas! how often do such meretricious lures prove +resistless to the infatuated fair one! Behold her arrayed in all the +paraphernalia of the despicable traitress,--henceforth sole promptress +of the drama in which she proposes to act a conspicuous part, and +which she vainly flatters herself to act with that last degree of art +which conceals it. Not reflecting that the whole history of dramatic +art affords few such adepts, she aspires at her very first debut, to +surpass even a Siddons. Discarding nature, and not sufficiently wedded +to art,--what becomes of her witchery? Her smiles are grimaces--her +laughter discord--her movements ridiculous antics. Her tones speak to +any thing but the heart;--all is foreign to nature,--whose modesty she +outrages and oversteps. She is mocked and hissed by all the world +with whom she would cordially unite, were the actress other than her +own _dear_ self, whom alone self-love has blinded to herself. Hers is +the delusion of the silly ostrich, which in the concealment of his +head, thinks to elude pursuit. But granting her the utmost success of +long and carefully practised art--and that her airs and graces, her +soft _languishments_, killing glances, heavenly smiles, and soul +thrilling laughter, have all the witchery that such art can give, and +have called forth the applause of the crowd of vulgar admirers,--will +it compensate for the obvious disgust of those who have learned to +detect and to despise their empty and heartless display? Will it +compensate for the lowering of that proud self-esteem, which is the +bright reward of truth, and the best security of virtue? Would she +flourish in the empire of the heart, that bright dominion of her sex? +Would she, by her look, manner and words, inspire respect, confidence +and love? And shall each betray that they have been practised but to +deceive? Shall she hope to speak to the heart in tones which come not +from the heart? Shall she hope to engage interest for the subject of +her conversation, when full not of it but of herself? For what is it +that she would challenge the affections? For a being pure, single +hearted, and identical,--or for one whose very identity is almost lost +amidst the perpetually varying aspects and phases, under which, in her +inflated vanity, she pleases to exhibit herself. How shall our love +continue to pursue, and cling to that, of whose very form and essence +we have no abiding assurance? In the disruption of feeling produced by +such changes, we cannot but feel that we have almost lost the beloved +object, and exclaim in bitterness,--alas! she is no longer what I have +loved. + + "Why _affectation_,--why this mock grimace? + Go silly thing, and hide that simp'ring face; + Thy lisping prattle, and thy mincing gait-- + All thy false mimic fooleries I hate: + For thou art Folly's counterfeit--and she, + Altho' right foolish, hath the better plea;-- + Nature's true idiot I prefer to thee. + + "Why that soft languish,--why that drawling tone? + Art sick? art sleepy? Get thee hence; begone-- + I laugh at all thy pretty baby tears, + Those flutterings, faintings, and unreal fears. + + "Can they deceive us? Can such mum'ries move? + Touch us with pity, or inspire with love? + No! affectation--vain is all thy art; + Those eyes may wander over every part, + They'll never find their passage to the heart." + +Of all the diseases of the mind or the heart, affectation is the +fittest subject of ridicule,--since we are ridiculous not for what we +are, but for what we pretend to be. One of the arguments of the +apologists for this mean and pitiful vice is,--that the ordinary +conventional forms of politeness necessarily involve its commission, +and that all the tutored and refined graces of polished life, are but +its varying forms. Of the former, benevolence should be, if it be not +always, the genuine and captivating source; and if we have it not, the +assumption of a virtue which inculcates a sacrifice to the feelings of +others of our own, may find a sufficient apology, perhaps, for a +semblance to which society has learned to affix its value. With regard +to the latter, _la belle nature_ is loveliest when embellished, not +prostituted, by art, in its most vulgar form, viz: _affectation_. +Neither wealth nor fashion can divest it of its character of +vulgarity. One should, indeed, be too proud to be _vain_, when vanity +leads to affectation,--which in its milder form, is the meanness of +asking credit for what we do not possess--and in its deeper die, +impels us to obtain it by dissimulation, hypocrisy and fraud. In its +approaches, few vices are more insidious. Having its germ in the +indiscriminate love of imitation natural to youth, vanity prompts an +eager exchange of our native attributes, for what we deem attractive +in others--and artifice is speedily resorted to, to give the +acquisition the semblance of an original possession. One cherished +appropriation is added to another, until the product becomes a +complete bundle of fancied charms and perfections, entailing, however, +all that anxiety of concealment, whose only tendency is to betray the +theft. If the original effects of affectation have been correctly +assigned, the mode and importance of prevention will sufficiently +suggest themselves. Let parents beware how they suffer their children +to be exposed to the contagion of this vile leprosy. Let them +carefully remove from them, as from a pestilence, those infected +subjects, whose resemblance they would shudder to see them. The +garment of affectation once put on, like that of the fated Nessus, +grows to the wearer. Should her complacency ever be so far alarmed as +to make her attempt to doff it, may vainly fancy she has succeeded, by +simply pulling it around, and exhibiting it under a different aspect. +Should she be so fortunate as to have the most invaluable, because the +rarest of friends,--one who will neither flatter, nor shrink from the +task of the faithful anatomy of her heart, and the development of the +fatal poison which lurks at its core, and be brought sincerely to +desire its removal,--let her, while she earnestly applies to it her +own rigid examinations, fervently invoke the aid of a mightier +physician, who cleansing her heart, will restore her to a place a +little less than the angels, of whom I am an + +ADORER. + + + + +Our readers are apprised that the poet Willis has for some time past, +been employed in making the grand tour of Europe--a kind of literary +reconnoissance, not only for his own benefit and gratification, but +also for the purpose, we suppose, of enriching the columns of the New +York Mirror (of which periodical he is one of the Editors,) with the +various results of his observation. With many of his letters, or +"first impressions" as they are called, we acknowledge ourselves to +have been much delighted. His sketches of character and scenery are +generally very impressive, and whilst on the one hand he avoids the +too common fault of American writers,--a wearisome profusion of +words--he does not, on the other, disdain the graces of ornament, or +the beauties of amplification. It appears that he is at last peeping +into the concerns of our venerable ancestor, John Bull. We hope that +he will give a fair and candid account of the old gentleman's virtues, +as well as his faults and peculiarities, "nothing extenuating, nor +setting down aught in malice."--The following letter is very +interesting. + +WILLIS'S IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON. + + +From the top of Shooter's Hill we got our first view of London--an +indistinct, architectural mass, extending all round to the horizon, +and half enveloped in a dim and lurid smoke. "That is St. +Paul's!--there is Westminster Abbey!--there is the Tower of London!" +What directions were these to follow for the first time with the eye! + +From Blackheath, (seven or eight miles from the centre of London,) the +beautiful hedges disappeared, and it was one continued mass of +buildings. The houses were amazingly small, a kind of thing that would +do for an object in an imitation perspective park, but the soul of +neatness pervaded them. Trellises were nailed between the little +windows, roses quite overshadowed the low doors, a painted fence +enclosed the hand's breadth of grass-plot, and very, oh, _very_ sweet +faces bent over lapfuls of work beneath the snowy and looped-up +curtains. It was all home-like and amiable. There was an +_affectionateness_ in the mere outside of every one of them. + +After crossing Waterloo bridge, it was busy work for the eyes. The +brilliant shops, the dense crowds of people, the absorbed air of every +passenger, the lovely women, the cries, the flying vehicles of every +description, passing with the most dangerous speed--accustomed as I am +to large cities, it quite made me giddy. We got into a "jarvey" at the +coach-office, and in half an hour I was in comfortable quarters, with +windows looking down St. James'-street, and the most interesting leaf +of my life to turn over. "Great emotions interfere little with the +mechanical operations of life," however, and I dressed and dined, +though it was my first hour in London. + +I was sitting in the little parlor alone, over a fried sole and a +mutton cutlet, when the waiter came in, and pleading the crowded state +of the hotel, asked my permission to spread the other side of the +table for a clergyman. I have a kindly preference for the cloth, and +made not the slightest objection. Enter a fat man, with top-boots and +a hunting whip, rosy as Bacchus, and excessively out of breath with +mounting one flight of stairs. Beefsteak and potatoes, a pot of porter +and a bottle of sherry followed close on his heels. With a single +apology for the intrusion, the reverend gentleman fell to, and we ate +and drank for a while in true English silence. + +"From Oxford, sir, I presume," he said at last, pushing back his +plate, with an air of satisfaction. + +"No, I had never the pleasure of seeing Oxford." + +"R-e-ally! may I take a glass of wine with you, sir?" + +We got on swimmingly. He would not believe I had never been in England +till the day before, but his cordiality was no colder for that. We +exchanged port and sherry, and a most amicable understanding found its +way down with the wine. Our table was near the window, and a great +crowd began to collect at the corner of St. James'-street. It was the +king's birth-day, and the people were thronging to see the nobility +come in state from the royal _levee_. The show was less splendid than +the same thing in Rome or Vienna, but it excited far more of my +admiration. Gaudiness and tinsel were exchanged for plain richness and +perfect fitness in the carriages and harness, while the horses were +incomparably finer. My friend pointed out to me the different liveries +as they turned the corner into Piccadilly, the duke of Wellington's +among others. I looked hard to see his grace; but the two pale and +beautiful faces on the back seat, carried nothing like the military +nose on the handles of the umbrellas. + +The annual procession of mail coaches followed, and it was hardly less +brilliant. The drivers and guard in their bright red and gold +uniforms, the admirable horses driven so beautifully, the neat +harness, the exactness with which the room of each horse was +calculated, and the small space in which he worked, and the +compactness and contrivance of the coaches, formed altogether one of +the most interesting spectacles I have ever seen. My friend, the +clergyman, with whom I had walked out to see them pass, criticised the +different teams _con amore_, but in language which I did not always +understand. I asked him once for an explanation; but he looked rather +grave, and said something about "gammon," evidently quite sure that my +ignorance of London was a mere quiz. + +We walked down Piccadilly, and turned into, beyond all comparison, the +most handsome street I ever saw. The Toledo of Naples, the Corso of +Rome, the Kohlmarket of Vienna, the Rue de la Paix and Boulevards of +Paris, have each impressed me strongly with their magnificence, but +they are really nothing to Regent-street. I had merely time to get a +glance at it before dark; but for breadth and convenience, for the +elegance and variety of the buildings, though all of the same scale +and material, and for the brilliancy and expensiveness of the shops, +it seemed to me quite absurd to compare it with any thing between New +York and Constantinople--Broadway and the Hippodrome included. + +It is the custom for the king's tradesmen to illuminate their shops on +his majesty's birth-night, and the principal streets on our return +were in a blaze of light. The crowd was immense. None but the lower +order seemed abroad, and I cannot describe to you the effect on my +feelings on hearing my own language spoken by every man, woman and +child about me. It seemed a completely foreign country in every other +respect, different from what I had imagined, different from my own and +all that I had seen, and coming to it last, it seemed to me the +farthest off and strangest country of all--and yet the little sweep, +who went laughing through the crowd, spoke a language that I had heard +attempted in vain by thousands of educated people, and that I had +grown to consider next to unattainable by others, and almost useless +to myself. Still, it did not make me feel at home. Every thing else +about me was too new. It was like some mysterious change in my own +ears--a sudden power of comprehension, such as a man might feel who +was cured suddenly of deafness. You can scarcely enter into my +feelings till you have had the changes of French, Italian, German, +Greek, Turkish, Illyrian, and the mixtures and dialects of each, rung +upon your hearing almost exclusively, as I have for years. I wandered +about as if I were exercising some supernatural faculty in a dream. + +A friend in Italy had kindly given me a letter to lady Blessington, +and with a strong curiosity to see this celebrated lady, I called on +her the second day after my arrival in London. It was "deep i' the +afternoon," but I had not yet learned the full meaning of "town +hours."--"Her ladyship had not come down to breakfast." I gave the +letter and my address to the powdered footman, and had scarce reached +home when a note arrived inviting me to call the same evening at ten. + +In a long library lined alternately with splendidly-bound books and +mirrors, and with a deep window of the breadth of the room, opening +upon Hyde Park, I found lady Blessington alone. The picture to my eye, +as the door opened, was a very lovely one. A woman of remarkable +beauty half buried in a fauteuil of yellow satin, reading by a +magnificent lamp, suspended from the centre of the arched ceiling; +sofas, couches, ottomans and busts arranged in rather a crowded +sumptuousness through the room; enamel tables, covered with expensive +and elegant trifles in every corner, and a delicate white hand +relieved on the back of a book, to which the eye was attracted by the +blaze of its diamond rings. As the servant mentioned my name, she rose +and gave me her hand very cordially, and a gentleman entering +immediately after, she presented me to her son-in-law, Count D'Orsay, +the well-known Pelham of London, and certainly the most splendid +specimen of a man and a well-dressed one that I had ever seen. Tea was +brought in immediately, and conversation went swimmingly on. + +Her ladyship's inquiries were principally about America, of which, +from long absence, I knew very little.--She was extremely curious to +know the degrees of reputation the present popular authors of England +enjoy among us, particularly Bulwer, Galt, and D'Israeli, (the author +of Vivian Grey.) "If you will come to-morrow night," she said, "you +will see Bulwer. I am delighted that he is popular in America. He is +envied and abused by all the literary men of London, for nothing, I +believe, except that he gets five hundred pounds for his books and +they fifty, and knowing this, he chooses to assume a pride, (some +people call it puppyism,) which is only the armor of a sensitive mind, +afraid of a wound. He is to his friends the most frank and gay +creature in the world, and open to boyishness with those who he thinks +understand and value him. He has a brother, Henry, who is as clever as +himself in a different vein, and is just now publishing a book on the +present state of France. Bulwer's wife, you know, is one of the most +beautiful women in London, and his house is the resort of both fashion +and talent. He is just now hard at work on a new book, the subject of +which is the last days of Pompeii. The hero is a Roman dandy, who +wastes himself in luxury, till this great catastrophe rouses him and +developes a character of the noblest capabilities.--Is Galt much +liked?" + +I answered to the best of my knowledge that he was not. His life of +Byron was a stab at the dead body of the noble poet, which, for one, I +never could forgive, and his books were clever, but vulgar. He was +evidently not a gentleman in his mind. This was the opinion I had +formed in America, and I had never heard another. + +"I am sorry for it," said Lady B., "for he is the dearest and best old +man in the world. I know him well.--He is just on the verge of the +grave, but comes to see me now and then, and if you had known how +shockingly Byron treated him, you would only wonder at his sparing his +memory so much." + +"_Nil mortuis nisi bonum_," I thought, would have been a better +course. If he had reason to dislike him, he had better not have +written since he was dead. + +"Perhaps--perhaps. But Galt has been all his life miserably poor, and +lived by his books. That must be his apology. Do you know the +D'Israeli in America?" + +I assured her ladyship that the "Curiosities of Literature," by the +father, and "Vivian Grey and Contarini Fleming," by the son, were +universally known. + +"I am pleased at that, too, for I like them both. D'Israeli the elder +came here with his son the other night.--It would have delighted you +to see the old man's pride in him. He is very fond of him, and as he +was going away, he patted him on the head, and said to me 'take care +of him, lady Blessington, for my sake. He is a clever lad, but he +wants ballast. I am glad he has the honor to know you, for you will +check him sometimes when I am away!' D'Israeli, the elder, lives in +the country about twenty miles from town, and seldom comes up to +London. He is a very plain old man in his manners, as plain as his son +is the reverse. D'Israeli, the younger, is quite his own character of +Vivian Grey, crowded with talent, but very _soigne_ of his curls, and +a bit of a coxcomb. There is no reserve about him, however, and he is +the only _joyous_ dandy I ever saw." + +I asked if the account I had seen in some American paper of a literary +celebration at Canandaigua, and the engraving of her ladyship's name +with some others upon a rock, was not a quiz. + +"Oh, by no means. I was equally flattered and amused by the whole +affair. I have a great idea of taking a trip to America to see it. +Then the letter, commencing 'Most charming countess--for charming you +must be since you have written the conversations of Lord Byron'--oh, +it was quite delightful. I have shown it to every body. By the way, I +receive a great many letters from America, from people I never heard +of, written in the most extraordinary style of compliment, apparently +in perfectly good faith. I hardly know what to make of them." + +I accounted for it by the perfect seclusion in which great numbers of +cultivated people live in our country, who, having neither intrigue, +nor fashion, nor twenty other things to occupy their minds as in +England, depend entirely upon books, and consider an author who has +given them pleasure as a friend. America, I said, has probably more +literary enthusiasts than any country in the world; and there are +thousands of romantic minds in the interior of New England, who know +perfectly every writer this side the water, and hold them all in +affectionate veneration, scarcely conceivable by a sophisticated +European. If it were not for such readers, literature would be the +most thankless of vocations. I, for one, would never write another +line. + +"And do you think these are the people who write to me? If I could +think so, I should be exceedingly happy. People in England are refined +down to such heartlessness--criticism, private and public, is so +interested and so cold, that it is really delightful to know there is +a more generous tribunal. Indeed I think all our authors now are +beginning to write for America. We think already a great deal of your +praise or censure." + +I asked if her ladyship had known many Americans. + +"Not in London, but a great many abroad. I was with Lord Blessington +in his yacht at Naples, when the American fleet was lying there, eight +or ten years ago, and we were constantly on board your ships. I knew +Commodore Creighton and Captain Deacon extremely well, and liked them +particularly. They were with us, either on board the yacht or the +frigate every evening, and I remember very well the bands playing +always 'God save the King,' as we went up the side. Count D'Orsay +here, who spoke very little English at that time, had a great passion +for Yankee Doodle, and it was always played at his request." + +The count, who still speaks the language with a very slight accent, +but with a choice of words that shows him to be a man of uncommon tact +and elegance of mind, inquired after several of the officers, whom I +have not the pleasure of knowing. He seemed to remember his visits to +the frigate with great pleasure. The conversation, after running upon +a variety of topics, which I could not with propriety put into a +letter for the public eye, turned very naturally upon Byron. I had +frequently seen the Countess Guiccioli on the continent, and I asked +lady Blessington if she knew her. + +"No. We were at Pisa when they were living together, but though Lord +Blessington had the greatest curiosity to see her, Byron would never +permit it. 'She has a red head of her own,' said he, 'and don't like +to show it.' Byron treated the poor creature dreadfully ill. She +feared more than she loved him." + +She had told me the same thing herself in Italy. + +It would be impossible, of course, to make a full and fair record of a +conversation of some hours. I have only noted one or two topics which +I thought most likely to interest an American reader. During all this +long visit, however, my eyes were very busy in finishing for memory a +portrait of the celebrated and beautiful woman before me. + +The portrait of lady Blessington in the Book of Beauties is not unlike +her, but it is still an unfavorable likeness. A picture by Sir Thomas +Lawrence hung opposite me, taken, perhaps, at the age of eighteen, +which is more like her, and as captivating a representation of a just +matured woman, full of loveliness and love, the kind of creature with +whose divine sweetness the gazer's heart aches, as ever was drawn in +the painter's most inspired hour. The original is now (she confessed +it very frankly) forty. She looks something on the sunny side of +thirty. Her person is full, but preserves all the fineness of an +admirable shape; her foot is not crowded in a satin slipper, for which +a Cinderella might long be looked for in vain, and her complexion, (an +unusually fair skin, with very dark hair and eyebrows,) is of even a +girlish delicacy and freshness. Her dress of blue satin, (if I am +describing her like a milliner, it is because I have here and there a +reader of the mirror in my eye who will be amused by it,) was cut low +and folded across her bosom, in a way to show to advantage the round +and sculpture-like curve and whiteness of a pair of exquisite +shoulders, while her hair dressed close to her head, and parted simply +on her forehead with a rich _ferronier_ of turquoise, enveloped in +clear outline a head with which it would be difficult to find a +fault.--Her features are regular, and her mouth, the most expressive +of them, has a ripe fulness and freedom of play, peculiar to the Irish +physiognomy, and expressive of the most unsuspicious good humour. Add +to all this a voice merry and sad by turns, but always musical, and +manners of the most unpretending elegance, yet even more remarkable +for their winning kindness, and you have the prominent traits of one +of the most lovely and fascinating women I have ever seen. Remembering +her talents and her rank, and the unenvying admiration she receives +from the world of fashion and genius, it would be difficult to +reconcile her lot to the "doctrine of compensation." + +There is one remark I may as well make here, with regard to the +personal descriptions and anecdotes with which my letters from England +will of course be filled. It is quite a different thing from +publishing such letters in London. America is much farther off from +England than England from America. You in New York read the +periodicals of this country, and know every thing that is done or +written here, as if you lived within the sound of Bow-bell. The +English, however, just know of our existence, and if they get a +general idea twice a year of our progress in politics, they are +comparatively well informed. Our periodical literature is never even +heard of. Of course, there can be no offence to the individuals +themselves in any thing which a visiter could write, calculated to +convey an idea of the person or manners of distinguished people to the +American public. I mention it lest, at first thought, I might seem to +have abused the hospitality or frankness of those on whom letters of +introduction have given me claims for civility. + +N. P. W. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO MISS C----, ON HER COQUETRY. + + + "Go to," and quit thy idle ways + Thou winning little creature; + A mind of nobler import plays, + Around thy every feature. + + Why waste those powers, by heav'n design'd + To win true hearts and wear them? + To wreck the peace of half mankind, + Who let thy arts ensnare them? + + In thy pursuit 'tis all the same, + The simple, wise, or learned, + Alike are fuel for thy flame-- + Are on thy altar burned. + + Nay, say not "no!"--within that hall, + Hallowed by deeds of ages, + I've seen thy _look_ around thee call + Virginia's proudest sages. + + I've seen thee, 'midst the festive scene, + With fools and fops in waiting, + Essay to conquer things too mean, + For pity, love, or hating. + + Go, quit it all--'tis weak--'tis vain-- + 'Tis wicked--nay, 'tis _cruel_; + Thy native truth alone can gain + For thee, the brightest jewel. + +B. + +_Richmond, Feb. 1835_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +WRITTEN FOR MISS M---- T----'S ALBUM. + + + Mary, thou wert a lovely child! + A sweeter cherub never smiled! + Tho' since we have not often met, + Those days I well remember yet; + When, in thy sportiveness and glee, + Thou wert a favorite with me; + And told me, in thy frolic mood, + The story of Red-riding-hood-- + In words I ne'er could understand-- + They seemed sweet sounds from fairy land. + + Time's changes numberless had passed + O'er thee when I beheld thee last, + Yet still I thought that I could trace + The same expression in thy face; + Only that then it was refined + By the bright impress of the mind-- + For years had failed to steal away + The artlessness of childhood's day. + In nature's richest tints arrayed, + Thy cheek the bloom of health displayed; + And in its varying flush, I read + All that thy lips had left unsaid. + + Mary, I thought thee lovely then-- + Oh! may'st thou long thy charms retain, + And ne'er thine eyes their witness bear + To any but compassion's tear! + May life's fast flowing stream, for thee + Roll smoothly bright, and buoyantly-- + Bearing thee calmly on thy way, + To realms of ever-shining day; + To regions of eternal peace, + Where joys live on and sorrows cease. + +E. A. S. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LINES + +Written on the Pillar erecting by Mrs. Barlow, to the memory of her +husband, Minister of the United States at Paris. + + + Where o'er the Polish desarts trackless way, + Relentless Winter rules with savage sway, + Where the shrill polar storms, as wild they blow, + Seem to repeat some plaint of mortal woe; + Far o'er the cheerless space, the traveller's eye + Shall this recording pillar long descry, + And give the sod a tear where Barlow lies, + He who was simply great and nobly wise; + Here led by Patriot zeal, he met his doom, + And found amid the frozen wastes a tomb-- + Far from his native soil the Poet fell, + Far from that Western World he sung so well. + Nor she, so long beloved, nor she was nigh, + To catch the dying look--the parting sigh! + She, who, the hopeless anguish to beguile, + In fond memorial rears the funeral pile; + Whose widowed bosom, on Columbia's shore, + Shall mourn the moments that return no more-- + While bending o'er the broad Atlantic wave, + Sad fancy hovers on the distant grave. + +H. M. WILLIAMS. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO ONE WHO WILL UNDERSTAND ME. + + + Memory! within thy deepest cell + A recollection glows; + A burning thought--whose magic spell + Can charm away my woes: + It gushes o'er my troubled soul + In lava streams of joy, + Its talismanic power can roll + The darkness from my sky; + It thrills my heart with ecstacy, + That ever present thought! + And, oh! it were too sweet to die + With mind so richly fraught: + And who is she for whom my heart, + My feelings, harmonize? + And who is she that has the art + To chain my sympathies? + + Thine is the brightness of the eye, + Which tide nor time can dim; + Thy voice is softer than the sigh + Of love, or angel's hymn; + The rose is thine--but not the hue + That fadeth with the morn-- + _Thy_ color's deeper when the dew + Away from flower is gone-- + When all beside is bleak and drear + Thy genial blushes rise, + Like flow'rets of the northern year, + That bloom amid the ice; + But more than all, thy beauty brings + In her imperial train; + And more than all, thy magic flings + To dim the dizzened brain. + Yes! more than these--than rosy cheek-- + Is thy pure lofty mind; + Thy nature calm, and soft and meek, + With warmth of heart conjoined. + These are the charms that deck _thee_ most, + With radiance deep and pure,-- + These are the flow'rs that thou may'st boast, + When beauty's hour is o'er: + Thy world may fade--its glory past,-- + But in the sky afar, + Thy mind will shine undimmed at last, + A high and holy star! + Go to the East--it is thy home-- + In nature like to thee; + And while o'er beds of flowers you roam, + No breeze, no bird so free-- + And while you breathe the Attar-Gul + Of fragrant memory, + Your heart with thrilling joy so full, + It throbs like summer sea; + Oh! then should thought of times gone by, + With dew-drop dim thine ee, + May, mid the breeze that dances nigh, + A sigh be heard for me. + +----. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +EXTRACT FROM AN UNFINISHED POEM. + + + There is a form before me now, + A spirit with a peerless brow, + And locks of gold that lightly lie, + Like clouds on the air of a sunset sky, + And a glittering eye, whose beauty blends + With more than mortal tenderness, + As bright a ray as Heaven sends + To light those orbs, where the pure and blest + Are taking their eternal rest. + Sweet Spirit! thou hast stolen afar + From thy home in yonder crystal Star, + That I might look on thee, and bless + Thy kindness and thy loveliness. + + How oft against these prison bars + I have leaned my head, and gazed for hours + Upon the wonder-telling stars; + Thinking, if in their sinless bowers + The memory of this planet dim + E'er mingles with thy blissful dream. + And when low winds were stealing by, + I have sometimes closed my weary eye; + And fancied the sigh that was silently stealing + Through my damp hair, was thine own breathing: + Then would I lay me down upon + This carpetless cold flinty stone, + And pray--how long! how fervently! + To look on thee once more and die. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +MOONLIGHT. + + + The half-orbed Moon hangs out her silvery lamp, + A liquid lustre pouring o'er the scene; + While silk-winged zephyrs bathed in dewy damp + Scarce move the pensile leaves, or break the calm serene. + + Radiant she rests upon the brow of night, + The lucid diadem that crowns the sky; + So softly beautiful, so mildly bright, + She sways the ravished heart, and feeds the insatiate eye. + + In jocund _boyhood_ erst her magic face + Impressed no feeling but a gentle joy; + For moonlit memory knew not then to trace + The saddened scenes of youth that later hopes alloy. + + When dawning _manhood_, fired by fancy's ray, + Enrobed all nature in her rainbow hues, + Then fond affection loved at eve to stray + And, gazing on the Moon, with thrilling heart to muse. + + But when _advancing years_ have broke the ties + Formed at the altar of the Moonlit Heaven, + The thoughts of buried joys in sadness rise, + And tear-drops glisten in the silent light of even. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO HOPE. + + + O! ever skilled to wear the form we love! + To bid the shapes of fear and grief depart, + Come gentle Hope! with one soft smile remove + The wasting sadness of an aching heart. + + Thy voice benign, enchantress let me hear; + Say that for me some pleasures yet shall bloom; + That Fancy's radiance. Friendship's precious tear + Shall brighten or shall soothe misfortune's gloom. + + But come not glowing with the dazzling ray, + Which once, with dear illusions charmed my eye! + O! strew no more, sweet flatterer! on my way, + The flowers I fondly thought too bright to die. + Visions less fair will soothe my pensive breast, + That asks not Happiness, but longs for rest. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO THE BIBLE. + + + Go, Holy Book! + Tell those whom many woes assail + On thee to look; + They'll find how weak it is to wail + Though every earthly comfort fail. + + The Orphan's tear + Go wipe away, and bid his heart + To be of cheer; + Heal thou his bosom's sorest smart, + And gild with Hope misfortune's dart. + + Say thou to those, + Shut out from every good on earth, + Lost to repose, + Baptized in sorrow at their birth, + That worldly joy's of little worth. + + The poor soul tell, + The poor, lone, wretched, friendless man, + Though his heart swell, + The ways of God, he must not scan-- + But trust the Universal plan. + + Tell poor disease, + Bravely to bear the piercing pain; + Eternal ease, + Waits those who do not poorly plain, + And worldly loss is heavenly gain. + + Tell those who sigh + Over some friend's untimely doom, + That all must die; + He whom they saw laid in the tomb, + In God's own paradise may bloom. + + Go, say to those + Doom'd still to groan and till the soil, + That soon repose + Shall wipe away their drops of toil, + And stay for aye their weary moil. + + Tell those who pine + In the damp dungeon's dreary gloom, + There yet will shine + Through their poor melancholy dome, + A light to guide their footsteps home. + + Tell the Pilgrim, + When storms are blackening round his head, + 'Tis good for him; + What though his thorn torn feet have bled, + The heart's blood of his God was shed. + + The Mariner, + Who bides the tempest's fiercest blaze, + Bid not to fear; + Though thunders hurtle in the air, + The Launcher of the thunder's there. + + Tell those who fear + Their sins can never be forgiven, + To be of cheer-- + If they have call'd on God and striven, + There's mercy for them still in Heaven. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +ON SEEING THE JUNCTION OF THE SUSQUEHANNA AND LACKAWANNA RIVERS. + + + Rush on, broad stream, in thy power and pride, + To claim the hand of thy promis'd bride,-- + She doth haste from the realm of the darken'd mine, + To mingle her murmur'd vows with thine; + Ye have met, ye have met,--and the shores prolong + The liquid tone of your nuptial song. + + Methinks ye wed as the white man's son + And the child of the Indian king have done; + I saw thy bride as she strove in vain + To cleanse her brow from the carbon stain,-- + But the dowry she brings, is so rich and true, + That thy love must not shrink from the tawny hue. + + Her birth was rude in the mountain cell, + And her infant freaks there are none to tell; + The path of her beauty was wild and free, + And in dell and forest she hid from thee,-- + But the time of her fond caprice is o'er, + And she seeks to part from thy breast no more. + + Pass on, in the joy of your blended tide, + Thro' the land where the blessed Miquon[1] died; + No red man's blood with its guilty stain, + Hath cried unto God, from that green domain; + With the seeds of peace they have seen the soil + Bring a harvest of wealth for their hour of toil. + + On,--on,--thro' the vale where the brave ones sleep, + Where the waving foliage is rich and deep; + I have look'd from the mountain and roam'd thro' the glen, + To the beautiful homes of the western men, + Yet naught in that realm of enchantment could see, + So fair as the Vale of Wyoming to me. + +L. H. S. + +_Hartford, Conn._ + +[Footnote 1: The Indian name for William Penn.] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +HOPES AND SORROWS. + + + The fitful beam + Of the rippled fountain, + The purple gleam + Of the eve-lit mountain, + The vanishing glance + Of the meteors motion, + The lights that dance + On the darkened ocean, + Are the faithful types of the _hopes_ that won us, + While the dew of our youth still sparkled upon us. + + The arid sands + Of the sun-dried river, + The rock that stands + Where lightnings quiver, + The pitiless rush + Of the earthquake's ruin, + The startling hush + Of the sea-storm brewing, + Are as truly types of the _sorrows_ that found us, + When the hopes that we nursed had all fled from around us. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THE WANDERER. + +BY ALEX. LACEY BEARD, M.D. + + + Along the devious paths of life, + A wild and wayward wand'rer, I, + Have steered my bark mid passion's strife, + And where destruction's pitfalls lie. + + When on a dark and rock-bound shore, + My bark was wildly tempest tost, + And o'er the breakers' sullen roar, + Arose the fearful cry--_all's lost!_ + + I shrunk not from the raging blast, + But with a bold and reckless hand + I steered her on, till she had past + The stormy sea and rocky strand. + + A fierce enthusiast, I have dared + To risk my all, upon one cast,-- + Have seen the danger,--nor have feared, + What others looked upon aghast. + + Disease has laid her iron hand, + With no weak grasp, my frame upon, + But all her power could not withstand + The spirit which has borne me on. + + A demon some have called me--yet, + Admit that with my spirit blends, + A feeling strangely to forget + All thought of self, in aid of friends. + + A madman some have deemed me--and, + In sooth, dark shadows often run + Across my mind, as o'er the land, + When darkest clouds obscure the sun. + + I often wish to die--and flee + Far, far away from earth, that I + May search the dim unknown, and see + What wonders in its bosom lie. + + 'Tis not because life has no charm,-- + I love the gay and laughing stream; + I love the glowing sunshine warm; + I love Old Luna's silvery beam. + + I love to gaze on maiden's eye, + Though it has often been my bane; + I love on courser swift to fly, + Like arrow o'er the flowery plain. + + Yet still, my wayward soul will oft, + Cherish the wish to pass that bound, + Which spans this life, and seek aloft + For bliss which here is never found. + + But now my lyre begins to fail + I'll cease my lone and wand'ring song. + Fearful lest with my idle wail, + I linger o'er the chords too long. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TRUE RICHES AND GLORY. + + + For fortune's prize let others pant, + And count the "yellow slave," + No joys can gathered jewels grant, + No sickening sorrows save-- + But bustling and jostling + To swell the treasured heap, + It cloys us, annoys us, + And leaves the _heart_ to weep. + + Let others climb the dizzy height + Where glory shines afar, + Alas! renown is but the light + That decks the falling star. + Still driving and striving + To reach the radiant prize, + We grasp it and clasp it, + And in our touch it dies. + + But, oh! let mine the treasure be + That social joys impart, + And mine the glory, sympathy + Beams on the feeling heart-- + Still soothing and smoothing + The grief of friends distrest, + And lending and spending, + That others may be blest. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THE DEATH OF THE MOTHERLESS. + +"As the little one turned for the last time, his tenderly beaming eyes +on all around, they seemed to say 'Father!--she calls,--I +go,--farewell,--farewell.'" + + + "Who calleth thee, my darling boy? + What voice is in thine ear?" + He answer'd not, but murmur'd on + In words that none might hear; + And still prolong'd the whispering tone, + As if in fond reply + To some dear object of delight + That fix'd his dying eye. + + And then, with that confiding smile + First by his Mother taught, + When freely on her breast he laid + His troubled infant thought, + And meekly as a placid flower + O'er which the dew-drops weep, + He bow'd him on his painful bed, + And slept the unbroken sleep. + + But if in yon immortal clime + Where flows no parting tear, + That root of earthly love may grow + Which struck so deeply here, + With what a tide of boundless bliss, + A thrill of rapture wild, + An angel mother in the skies, + Must greet her cherub child. + +L. H. S. + +_Hartford, Conn._ + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LETTERS FROM A SISTER. + +LETTER EIGHTH. + +Hotel des Invalides--Chamber of Deputies--Pont Louis 16th--Bridges of +Paris--The Pont Neuf. + + +PARIS, ----. + +_My dear Jane:_ + +"Let them gild the dome of the Hotel des Invalides," said Napoleon to +an officer, who informed him that unless the war in Italy was +discontinued, there would certainly be a revolution in Paris. The +mandate was issued, the dome covered with the shining leaf, and the +minds of the people immediately turned from the operations of war, to +those of the artisans employed on the cupola of the military asylum. +Napoleon foresaw this, for well he knew the character of his subjects. +A mere trifle, having _novelty_ to recommend it, attracts their +notice, engages their attention, and forms the theme of their +conversation for a long while--at least, until another new bubble +arises. This we must own is a happy disposition, and better calculated +to render a nation contented and joyous, than the sober, phlegmatic +temperament of our Islanders. + +Thus, my dear Jane, have I managed to describe to you in a very few +words--the dome of the Invalids and the character of the Parisians. +Knowing you hate prolixity, I rejoice at my success, and for the same +reason, proceed without delay, to give you an account of the Hospital +in question. It is a stately edifice, and was erected by Louis 14th, +for the reception of brave and disabled old soldiers. In approaching +it, you traverse a vast esplanade embellished with a fountain and +bordered by a grove of lofty trees, with seats beneath them, to tempt +the lounger and rest the weary; some of them were occupied by veterans +whom I readily imagined to be telling "how fields were won." We spent +three hours in their noble asylum, examining its spacious halls and +dormitories, its cleanly and well arranged kitchen, its library and +magnificent church, and its cabinet of architecture, which consists of +two large rooms, containing models of all the fortified towns in the +kingdom. These are most ingeniously and beautifully executed, and give +you a perfect idea of the places they represent. The council chamber +adjoins the library, and this and two other apartments are decorated +with the portraits of the deceased marshals of France; while the +originals are living, their likenesses are deposited in the "Salle des +Marécheaux," at the Palace of the Tuilleries. In the church we saw the +mausoleum of Turenne and that of the famous engineer Vauban.[1] The +interior of the dome and the ceilings of six chapels surrounding it +are richly painted, and the tesselated pavement, interspersed with +fleurs de lis and other symbols, is exceedingly beautiful. Three +hundred flags, the spoils of different nations, were once suspended +from the dome; but when the allies entered Paris the _invalid_ +warriors tore them down to prevent their being retaken. + +[Footnote 1: He was deformed, and being once asked by the king what +his enemies thought of his back,--"Sire, (he replied) they have never +seen it."] + +From the Hotel des Invalides we rode to the Chamber of Deputies, +adjoining the palace of Bourbon, and situated on the southern bank of +the Seine, which separates it from the "Place Louis Quinze." It is a +handsome building, adorned with statues and corinthian columns, and +has a pleasant garden attached to it; the deputies hold their +assemblies in a semicircular hall, lighted from the top and +appropriately arranged. Monsieur de N---- was so kind and polite as to +send us tickets, and we have been twice to hear the debates; they were +very animated, though whenever a member wished to speak, he was +obliged to curb the _spirit that moved him_, until he could cross the +floor and mount a rostrum, which delay I should think is most +unfavorable to extemporary eloquence. Returning, we passed over the +Pont Louis Seize, and examined the twelve colossal figures of white +marble, that have recently been placed on it; they are masterly pieces +of sculpture, but too gigantic for the size of the bridge and their +approximation to you. There are no less than seventeen bridges athwart +the Seine, but not one of them can be compared to those of Waterloo, +Blackfriar's, or Westminster at London, as regards strength or +magnitude. The Pont Neuf is the largest; it is more than sixty feet +wide, and lined on each side with stalls of every description; the +passengers are continually beset by the importunities of the +shoe-black, the dog-shaver, the ballad singer, the bird seller, the +fruiterer, the pedler, the vender of second-hand books, and various +other petty dealers. Good night, dear sister. My paper and candle warn +me to conclude, which I fear you will not regret. + +LEONTINE. + + * * * * * + +LETTER NINTH. + +Arrival of friends--Voyage from London to Calais--Route from Calais to +Paris--Levee at the Minister's of the Marine--Expiatory Chapel. + + +PARIS, ----. + +_My dear Jane:_ + +We were agreeably surprised the day before yesterday, while at dinner, +by the arrival of the Danvilles, the American family with whom we were +so charmed at Bath last summer. Leonora is as likely as ever, and +delighted at the idea of spending the fall and winter here; she +expects too, to be joined by her cousin Marcello, of whom we have +heard her speak with such affection and admiration. She has been so +good as to let me read her journal, and I have obtained her permission +to transcribe a part of it for your perusal. It concerns the journey +from Calais to Paris, and as I have given you a sketch of that from +Havre here, this will enable you to compare the two routes. I dare say +you will like, also, to read her observations about the Thames and our +steam boats. She writes thus: + +"Soon after leaving London, the Thames quite astonished me. I had no +idea it was so considerable a river. For many miles it is broad and +winding, and each shore presents fine scenery. We had a good view of +several noted towns, and remarked the superb hospital at Greenwich and +the royal dock yard at Woolwich, where ships of war are made. At +Gravesend we passed two vessels transporting convicts to Botany Bay, +and I regretted to observe that the women were more numerous than the +men. + +"The motion of the English steam boats is still more disagreeable than +that of ours, but their machinery is less noisy. Coal being used for +fuel instead of wood, the passengers soon look dingy in face and +dress: therefore one should not travel in them handsomely clad, as +clothes are quickly ruined by the smoke and dust. There is no +particular hour for breakfast; each person calls for it when it suits +his pleasure, and has a table to himself. Dinner is served at five +o'clock. + +"We reached Calais about eight P.M. At the custom house the officers +were not strict in their examination of our baggage; this surprised +us, for we had understood that they were always very rigid in +performing this troublesome duty. Perhaps our being Americans was the +cause of their moderation in disturbing our trunks and boxes,--for the +French like _us_ almost as much as they detest the _English_. On +landing, we were highly diverted at the scene on the Quay. The instant +we left the boat we were beset with men and boys on every side, +recommending different hotels,--and frequently cards of address were +absolutely forced into our hands. When one overheard another advising +any of us to go to a particular house, he would cry out, 'never do you +mind that fellow, ma'am, (or sir) he tells a lie; he always tells +lies!' Or, 'no such thing, sir; that house is full, sir; you can't get +in, and he _knows_ it!' Or, 'that hotel is not a good one, +sir,--indeed it is not; try mine, sir; mine's a palace to it!' and +fifty other such droll speeches, at which (tormented as we were) we +could not help laughing. Sometimes they would even seize us by the arm +and entreat us to accompany them to their hotel, if only to see how +comfortable it was. These _besiegers_ (we have since been told) +receive a trifle from every innkeeper to whom they carry a guest, and +it is their anxiety to obtain this fee, that renders them so annoying +to travellers. + +"Ere leaving Calais we had sufficient leisure to walk about the town +and visit the church, the town hall on the 'place d'armes,' and the +column on the pier commemorating the landing of Louis 18th, on the +24th of April, 1814. It is a plain stone pillar, surmounted by a ball +and a fleur de lis. In front of it is a representation in bronze of +the print of the king's foot (or rather his shoe) upon the spot he +first stepped on from the vessel. We found the country between Calais +and Paris uninteresting, and generally barren. Once or twice we had a +fine view of the sea. The French villages appeared horribly dirty +after the exquisite neatness of those in England. The highways +presented a bustling and entertaining scene; for men and women, boys +and girls, gaily dressed, continually passed us, carrying baskets of +fruit, riding on donkeys, or driving along pigs, sheep, cows, or +geese. The venders of fruit would frequently jump up behind our +carriage, and thrust in at the window, peaches, pears and grapes, +beseeching us to buy them, and assuring us we had never tasted better +in all our lives. Whenever we stopped at an inn, or ascended a hill, +we were surrounded by dozens of paupers, begging for a sous. Sometimes +they looked so miserable, it was impossible to refuse; at others, we +were fain to bestow it in order to get rid of them. Little urchins +would also solicit a penny, and scamper after us a considerable +distance, often springing up behind and sticking their heads into the +coach. Upon the whole I am contented with our journey hither, for if +it was not picturesque it was highly amusing. + +"The principal towns we have passed through, are Boulogne, Abbeville, +and Beauvais. The first is said to have been founded by Julius Caesar; +and Le Sage, the author of Gil Blas, died there in 1747; the house in +which he expired, is yet shewn as a curiosity. Within a mile of +Boulogne is a corinthian column, which Bonaparte began to erect as a +memento of his victories over the English; he left it unfinished, and +Louis 18th had it completed for his own honor and glory." + +Thus far, dear sister, I have copied from Leonora's diary; now for +something of my own. Last night we were at Mr. de Neuville's grand +levee; he has one every week, and being exceedingly popular, his rooms +are generally crowded. We saw there, many distinguished characters; +among them, Monsieur de Chateaubriand, whose travels have afforded us +so much entertainment and instruction, and General Saldanha, the brave +Portuguese. He has a commanding figure and face, and wears a pair of +tremendous mustachios, which are so frightful and so fashionable! +To-day we devoted a portion of our time to the Expiatory Chapel, a +beautiful building, constructed in honor of Louis 16th and Marie +Antoinette; it covers the spot where their remains were first +interred; for since the restoration of the Bourbons, these have been +conveyed to the royal vault at St. Denis. The entrance and interior of +the chapel are very handsome; the light is admitted from the cupola, +beneath which are fifteen niches, destined to hold statues of the +chief victims of the revolution. There is a neat altar, and the will +of Louis and that of his sister, (the Princess Elizabeth) are engraved +in golden letters, on two white marble tablets. A subterranean +apartment contains another altar, and in front of this a black marble +slab bearing an inscription, still designates the original grave of +the royal and unfortunate pair. In the court of the chapel many of +their faithful Swiss guards are interred. The testament of Louis, +wherein he expresses good will towards his enemies and forgiveness of +his unloyal and cruel subjects, is very touching. A peasant girl was +reading it when we entered, and her cheeks were bedewed with tears. + +I regret to inform you that Mamma has had a return of her consumptive +cough, and is compelled to drink asses' milk. She is plentifully +supplied with it every morning, by an old man who drives a flock of +female asses about the streets, and milks them before the door of each +customer. The tingling of a little bell, which he carries, gives +notice of his arrival whenever be stops. Farewell: kind greetings to +those around you,--and above all, to yourself. From + +LEONTINE. + + * * * * * + +LETTER TENTH. + +The Luxembourg--The Observatory--Notre Dame--The Pantheon--Madame +Malibran--M'lle Sontag. + + +PARIS, ----. + +_Dearest Jane:_ + +On inquiring the day of the month, I am quite surprised to find that +my pen has been idle nearly a week. I will now try to make up for lost +time, by describing to you some of the places we have visited in the +interim, and the Luxembourg being first on the list, will commence +with that. It is one of the most magnificent palaces in Paris. The +exterior is highly embellished; and to use the words of an English +tourist, "the architecture throughout is distinguished by its bold and +masculine character, and by the regularity and beauty of its +proportions." This palace was built by order of Mary de Medici, the +widow of Henry 4th; it afterwards became the property of some of the +French nobility, but was finally restored to the crown. During the +revolution, it was used as a prison; the senate afterwards occupied +it; at present it contains the Chamber of Peers,--and its galleries +are filled with the chêf d'oeuvres of modern artists, whose +productions are not admitted into the Louvre until their death. Of +course the collection of paintings here is much smaller than at the +Louvre, but the pictures are all on the most interesting subjects and +are seen to greater advantage, the light being let in from above +instead of from the sides of the rooms, as is the case at the Louvre. +There are some choice pieces of sculpture; one of them (by Charles +Dupaty) represents the Nymph Biblis, changing to a fountain. It is +both a singular and ingenious production. The Chamber of Peers, like +that of the Deputies, is semicircular in shape; it is hung with blue +velvet; and the marble effigies of several orators, legislators and +warriors of old, grace its walls. From the ceiling, which is painted, +hangs a splendid chandelier. I will only mention one or two more of +the apartments--the Salle du Trone,[2] as being particularly rich, and +the billiard room, which is tapestried with white velvet, with various +views of Rome beautifully delineated on it in water colors. On the +ground floor is the chapel--this is very plain; near it is the +gorgeous chamber of Marie de Medicis,--the ceiling, walls, and +shutters of which are covered with gilding and arabesque paintings. +The principal staircase of the palace is remarkably grand and +magnificent; there are forty-eight steps, each twenty feet in length, +and formed of a single stone; on the right and left of it, are statues +and trophies. The garden of the Luxembourg is shady and pleasant, and +has the usual embellishments of gods and goddesses amid fountains and +flowers; as you are fond of the marvellous, I will tell you a +tradition I have just read respecting it. + +[Footnote 2: Hall of the Throne.] + +There once stood a castle on the site of this garden, which remaining +a long while uninhabited, was said to be haunted by frightful demons +and apparitions; the whole neighborhood was nightly disturbed by them; +no person would venture out after sunset, and finally the inhabitants +were compelled, for the sake of rest, to seek other dwellings. In this +state of things, the monks of a Carthusian monastery at Gentilly, (who +were doubtless at the bottom of the mystery) promised to drive away +the malicious spirits by exorcism, if St. Louis would grant them the +castle and its appurtenances. Their request was complied with, and +they so faithfully performed their part that peace was soon restored +and the chateau converted into a convent, which existed about six +hundred years. + +From the Luxembourg we proceeded through a long sunny avenue, to the +observatory. On the left of the road, Arnaud our valet de place, +pointed out the spot upon which Marshal Ney was shot. "Regardez, +Mesdames! ce fut la (pointing with his finger) l'endroit ou le brave +Maréchal Ney fut massacré--Jétais présent et il me semble que je le +vois tout sanglant dans le moment," said he, shuddering. We paused to +look at the once bloody spot, now verdant with grass and so sadly +interesting. The observatory may be considered a wonderful building, +for neither iron nor wood have been used in its construction; it is +entirely of stone, each piece being ingeniously fitted to another. +Four astronomers pursue their avocations here, and have the advantage +of a good library and apparatus; there are, likewise, an anemometer +for indicating the course of the wind, and a pluviometer for measuring +the quantity of rain that falls at Paris. A geometrical staircase +leads to the entrance of some spacious caverns where experiments in +congelation are made, and these caverns communicate with subterranean +galleries that were originally quarries, and extend a considerable +distance under the city, containing beautiful stalactites, formed by +water oozing through the rocks. We did not see them, for they cannot +be entered without a special guide, and a written permission from +certain persons appointed by government to superintend and inspect +them. But my stars! I have exhausted nearly all my paper, and have yet +a dozen places to describe! Well, well, you must be contented with an +account of two of the most important; and by the time I have finished +with them, I shall have to _squeeze_ in my name, no doubt. And now let +me decide which of the various objects we have examined, I ought to +regard as chief. Why, the mother church of France "Notre Dame," and +the Pantheon, to be sure! The first is the most ancient religious +structure in the city, and is pronounced to be one of the handsomest +in the kingdom. Being built in the Gothic ages, its architecture is +according to the fashion of those times, very singular and bold.--The +interior of the building corresponds with the outside in curious +carving and designs; the choir and the stalls surrounding it are +covered with grotesque sculpture. There are no less than thirty +chapels, and all of them contain pictures, but they are generally very +indifferent. There are several fine ones around the choir--among them +the "Visitation," by Jean Jouvenet; this painting was executed +entirely with his left hand, after he lost the use of his right by a +paralytic stroke. Behind the altar, is a good piece of sculpture by +Coustou; the subject is the "descent from the cross." In the vestry +room, we were shewn some extraordinary relics,--such as part of the +crown of thorns that was worn by our Saviour, and a bit of his cross!! +We also saw the regalia of Charlemagne, and the splendid robes given +to the priests of this cathedral by Buonaparte at the period of his +coronation, upon which occasion they were used; they are embroidered +in the richest manner with gold and silver, and amazingly heavy. +Numerous sacred festivals are celebrated at Notre Dame in the course +of the year; and in August there is to be a procession in fulfilment +of a vow made by Louis XIII. This is done on the 15th of that month +annually, and the royal family always join in it. We shall go to see +it of course; and how I wish you, aunt Margaret and Albert were to be +of our party! + +The Pantheon, or Church of Saint Geneviève, is a magnificent +structure, and its dome is the most striking object that presents +itself as you approach Paris. The interior of it is beautifully +painted, the artist having chosen for his subject the apotheosis of +Louis XVI and his family. When the work was finished, the king went to +see it, and after looking at it attentively for a quarter of an hour, +he turned to the painter Gros who was anxiously awaiting his opinion, +and said to him, "Eh bien Monsieur le _Baron_ votre ouvrage est trés +bien fait!" thus recompensing his talents, by bestowing on him a title +of nobility. Saint Geneviève, the patron Saint of Paris, is buried in +the Pantheon, and her tomb is always surrounded by lighted tapers, the +votive offerings of those who come to demand her intercession for +pardon or blessing. In the vaults beneath the church, many +distinguished men are interred. Indeed, it was to receive the ashes of +such that the Pantheon was designed; and Louis XV, who was the liberal +encourager of science and art, was the founder of it. + +Contrary to my expectations, I find I've yet space enough to inform +you that we have been twice to the Italian Opera, to hear Madame +Malibran and Mademoiselle Sontag. The former seems really adored here. +At her benefit, many gentlemen voluntarily paid one hundred francs for +a ticket, instead of twenty, the actual price. She sings enchantingly +and acts with great spirit; so does her rival Mademoiselle Sontag. In +fact, I know not to which of these nightingales I prefer listening. +Adieu. + +LEONTINE. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THE FINE ARTS. + + "My life's employment and my leisure's charm, + My soul's first choice, my fancy's early flame; + My chance of fortune and my hopes of fame." + +_Shee_. + + +There is no subject on which mankind more unhesitatingly decide, than +upon the productions of the pencil, and none perhaps upon which the +people of our own country especially, are so little qualified to form +a correct judgment. Few works of any excellence ever reach us, and +these are for the most part confined to the large cities, where those +who visit them are more attracted by the _subject_ than the +_execution_ of the painting. A striking illustration of this, may be +found in the crowds which rushed a short time since, to see the +immodest and demoralizing exhibition of our _first parents in a state +of nudity_--an offence for which Ham was accursed to be a servant of +servants to his brethren; and yet our modest maidens, attended by +their equally modest beaux, hastened in company to view this +production of Parisian profligacy. At the same time, the splendid +painting of "Christ rejected" by the eminent West, scarcely attracted +notice; and the beautiful "Star of Bethlehem" by Cole, twinkled in an +empty hall. Still no one doubts his own intuitive knowledge of the +arts!--He does not, indeed, profess to understand the _modus +operandi_, by which they are perfected,--but yet he knows exactly what +_delights_ him, and with equally becoming modesty, knows how to +_censure_ what he does not like,--although to the real _connoisseur_, +the work condemned may perchance be one of superlative beauty and +value. There are some who fall into raptures at Cimmerian darkness and +obscurity in a picture; they have heard that the works of the old +masters are very dark,--_ergo_, all black pictures must be very good. +Some have heard that Reubens and Rembrandt, painted with a bold free +pencil,--and every daub is therefore free and bold; and there are +others the very antipodes of these, who would have the canvass ivory +smooth, and always test the excellence of a picture with their +finger's ends. Such are the arbiters of taste, to whom the artist must +look for patronage and favor; to whose critical acumen he must +sacrifice the highest professional attainments, and all the poetry of +imagery, for the prosing portraiture of vulgar nature as the +uninstructed eye perceives it. Against such critics, Sir Joshua +Reynolds warned his young academecians. "Study not," said he, "to +please the many, but the few of cultivated taste." Alas! how few in +any age, have given that attention to the subject which is essential +to the formation of a correct judgment. They say,--do we not see and +understand what nature is, and can we not tell when the artist has +truly represented her?--We answer no. The eye unaccustomed to +_contemplate_ nature, cannot perceive the ever changing beauty of her +scenery,--her lights and shades more various than the Dolphins hues; +nor can it discern that play of the thoughts and passions in the +"human face divine," which eludes common observation, and is beheld +only by him who has studied profoundly, that wonderful title page to +the volume of mind. Nature, it is true, like a lovely and virtuous +maiden, is seen and admired by all; but the blush which reveals her +sweetest charm, is only perceived and felt by the devoted lover. That +Lover is the artist. To him the revolving year, brings but a change of +_beauty_. It is the element in which he breathes,--the aliment on +which he lives; his eye detects each flitting shadow--and the whole +world of real or imaginary things, is to his mind full of moving +pictures, which he can, in a moment, transfix and perpetuate on his +canvass. On him the graces attend, and wreathe the flowers of every +season into garlands of beauty; the jocund spring strews buds and +blossoms in his way, which he transplants to other climes, to live in +unfading bloom, and flourish on the same wall with the fruits of +summer, or mingle with the sober and varied hues of autumn. Even +winter, with frosty locks and snowy visage, is compelled to linger in +social companionship with the burning heats of tropical regions. Old +Time, in his onward march, strews cities and temples in the path of +the artist, but his pencil like the wand of the enchanter, bids their +sculptured fragments remain forever, and they obey him. When Aurora +comes forth in the chariot of day, and Cynthia lights her pale lamp at +Diana's altar,--he snatches promethean fire from heaven, and like +Joshua, commands the unwearied sun to stand still, and the glowing +canvass receives it. He not only transfers + + "Italian skies to English walls," + +but by the magic of his pencil, the very faces and persons of the fair +and the brave of ages gone by, come down to our day in the bloom of +youth, and with the daring eye, as they lived and moved when +Shakspeare wrote, or lovely Juliet died. + +Where do not the trophies of this incomparable art arrest our +attention?--from the ruins of Pompeii to imperial Rome, or from the +Vatican, where Raphael's immortal pencil traced the transfiguration, +to Hampton Court, the gallery of the cartoons, and of that fair but +frail society, of which England's voluptuous monarch was the sun and +centre.[1] But these are neither black, nor daubed, nor smooth!--and +yet they are excellent in art, and have been so esteemed for three +hundred years. To these the painter may appeal as imbodying all that +is noble in his profession, or like Sir Joshua, who felt and +understood, what others only imagined, he may patiently submit to the +ignorance of vanity--and the vanity of ignorance. + + When they talk of their Raphael, Corregio and Stuff, + He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff. + +G. C. + +[Footnote 1: The cartoons of Raphael and the court of Charles II by +Sir Peter Lely, form a part of the collection at Hampton court.] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +A TALE FROM FLORIAN. + +The following tale was translated from the French of M. Florian, by +the present hand, about 7 or 8 years ago, for a Richmond newspaper. +That translation its author has not seen since 1827; and lately +meeting with the original again, it seemed new enough, as well as +sufficiently pretty and interesting, to be worth presenting afresh to +the public through the Southern Literary Messenger. It is seldom that +so much varied incident has been compressed into so short a compass: +yet the rapidity of the narrative has not hindered the writer from +indulging a humor both playful and caustic, upon the foibles which he +banters, and the vices and crimes which he holds up to detestation. +And the moral, disclosed in unravelling the mystery of the allegorical +personage from whom the story takes its name, is full at once of +beauty and truth. + +M. + + * * * * * + +BATHMENDI. + +A PERSIAN STORY. + + +The THOUSAND-AND-ONE NIGHTS have always appeared to me charming tales; +but I should like them better, if they had oftener a moral scope. +Scheherezade, I am aware, is too handsome to be at the trouble of +being rational: I know, that with so pretty a face, she has no need of +common sense; and that the sultan would have been less enamored, if +she had been less silly. These great truths I devoutly believe: and I +merely repeat, that for my own part, I would rather read stories which +_make me reflect_, while they amuse me. Extravagance is a fine thing, +no doubt; but a picture must have shade: and I would fain have reason +appear now and then, to make folly go off the better. So an uncle of +mine once thought. He had often sailed in the Levant; and had amused +himself while there, by composing PERSIAN TALES. They are far below +the _Thousand-and-one Nights_ in imagination, but exceed them +infinitely in number; for my uncle in his life-time made four thousand +seven hundred and ninety-eight--all of which are now lost except the +following one, preserved by me. + + * * * * * + +Under the reign of a Persian king, whose name my uncle does not tell, +a merchant of Balsora was ruined by commercial disasters; and, +collecting the shattered remains of his fortune, retired to the +province of Kusistan. He there bought a dwelling, and a farm which he +cultivated badly, because he was perpetually regretting his days of +opulence and ease. Chagrin shortened his life; he perceived his end to +be near; and, calling his four sons around him, he said--"My children, +I have nothing to bequeath you but this house, and a secret which I +was bound to conceal till now. In the time of my wealth, I had for my +friend the genius Alzim; who promised to befriend you when I should be +no more, and to divide a treasure amongst you. He dwells some miles +hence, in the great forest of Kom. Go--find him: claim the treasure: +but take heed not to believe." ... Death here suppressed the +merchant's voice. + +His four sons, after interring and mourning him, repaired to the +forest of Kom. They inquired for the mansion of the genius Alzim: it +was readily shewn them. He was known to the whole country: he received +kindly all who visited him; he heard their complaints, consoled them, +and lent them money if they needed it. But these benefits were upon +the sole condition of _implicitly obeying his directions_. This was +his whim. No one could enter his palace without an oath to comply with +this condition. + +The oath did not deter the merchant's three eldest sons: the fourth, +whose name was Tai, thought it a very ridiculous ceremony. Yet, being +obliged to enter in order to receive the treasure, he swore, like his +brothers: but reflecting on the dangerous consequences of so rash a +vow, and remembering that his father, who frequently came to this +palace, had passed his life in follies, he resolved, without +committing perjury, to place himself out of danger; and, whilst they +were leading him to the genius, stopped his ears with perfumed wax. +Thus fortified, he prostrated himself before Alzim's throne. The +genius made the sons of his ancient friend arise; embraced them, shed +tears to his memory, and had a large chest brought, full of dariques. +"Here," said he, "is the treasure I design for you. I am going to +divide it among you; and I will then tell each the way he must take to +be perfectly happy." + +Tai heard not what the genius said; but watching him attentively, he +saw in his eyes and visage traits of cunning and malignity which gave +him much food for thought. Still, he received his portion of the +treasure gratefully. Alzim, having thus enriched them, assumed an +affectionate tone, and said; "My dear children, your good or bad +fortune depends upon your meeting sooner or later a certain being +named BATHMENDI, of whom all the world speaks, but whom few, very few, +know. Wretched mortals grope after him in vain: But I, for the love I +bear you, will whisper to each of you where he may be found." At these +words, Alzim takes Bekir, the eldest brother, aside, and says--"My +son, you were born with courage, and great military talents. The king +of Persia has just sent an army against the Turks. Join that army: in +the Persian camp you will find Bathmendi." Bekir thanks the genius, +and already burns to march. + +Alzim beckoned Mesrou, the second son, to approach. "You," said he, +"have shrewdness, address, and a great propensity to falsehood. Take +the road to Ispahan; 'tis at court that you must seek Bathmendi." + +To the third brother, whose name was Sadder, he said, "You are gifted +with a lively and fruitful imagination: You see objects not as they +are, but as you would have them be; you often possess genius, and not +always common sense: be a poet. Take the route to Agra: among the wits +and fair ladies of that city, you may find Bathmendi." + +Tai, in his turn, advanced; and, thanks to the pallets of wax, heard +not one word that Alzim said. It has since been ascertained, that he +counselled Tai to become a Dervise. + +After thanking the beneficent genius, the four brothers returned home. +The three eldest dreamed of nothing but Bathmendi. Tai unstopped his +ears, and heard them arrange their departure, and determine to sell +their little dwelling to the first bidder, in order to divide the +price. Tai offered to become the purchaser: he caused the house and +farm to be valued, paid his brothers their respective portions, and +embracing them tenderly, with a thousand good wishes, remained alone +in the paternal mansion. + +He then employed himself in executing a scheme, which he had long +meditated. He was enamored of young Amine, the daughter of a +neighboring farmer. She was handsome and discreet: she managed her +father's household, comforted his declining years, and prayed Heaven +for two things--that her father might long live, and that she might be +the wife of Tai. Her prayers were heard. Tai asked, and obtained her. +Her father went to live with his son-in-law, and taught him the art of +enriching the ground, so as to be enriched by it in return. Tai had +some gold still remaining of Alzim's gift: he employed it in extending +his farm, and in buying a flock. The farm doubled its value; the +fleeces of the sheep were sold; plenty reigned in Tai's house; and, as +he was industrious and his wife frugal, each year augmented their +income. Children, that ruin wealthy idlers, in the cities, enrich +laborers. At the end of seven years, Tai, the father of six lovely +children, the husband of a sweet and virtuous wife, son-in-law to an +aged, yet a hale and amiable man, master of several slaves, and of two +flocks,--was the happiest and the most independent farmer of Kusistan. + +Meantime his three brothers were in chase of Bathmendi. Bekir arrived +at the Persian camp; presented himself to the grand vizier, and begged +to be employed in the most hazardous services. His mien, and his +gallant bearing, pleased the vizier, who admitted him into a squadron +of cavalry. In a few days, a bloody battle took place. Bekir achieved +prodigies; saved his general's life, and captured the general of the +enemy. The camp rung with the praises of Bekir: all the soldiers +called him the champion of Persia; and the grateful vizier promoted +his deliverer to the rank of general. "Alzim was right," said Bekir to +himself; "'tis here that fortune awaits me; I am evidently about to +find Bathmendi." + +Bekir's glory, and especially his promotion, aroused the envy and the +murmurs of all the satraps. Some of them came to ask him about his +father; complaining that they had suffered by his bankruptcy: others +pretended to have held _madam his mother_ as a slave: all refused to +serve under him, because they were his seniors in office. Bekir, made +miserable by his very successes, lived alone, ever on the watch, ever +in danger of some outrage, which he might amply revenge but could not +prevent. He regretted the time when he was a mere private soldier, and +awaited impatiently the close of the war; when the Turks, reinforced +by fresh troops, and led by a new general, made an attack upon his +division. It was the juncture, for which the satraps of the army had +long wished. They exerted a hundred times more ability in procuring +the defeat of their leader, than they had ever shewn to avoid defeat +themselves. Bekir defended himself like a lion: but he was neither +obeyed nor seconded. In vain did the Persian soldiers wish to fight: +their officers restrained them, and led them only to flight. The +valiant Bekir, abandoned, covered with wounds, and overwhelmed by +numbers, was taken by the Janissaries. The Turkish commander +unworthily loaded him with irons, and sent him to Constantinople, +where he was thrown into a frightful dungeon. "Alas!" cried Bekir, "I +begin to think that Alzim has deceived me: for I cannot hope to meet +Bathmendi here." + +The war lasted fifteen years, and the satraps always obstructed the +exchange of Bekir. His dungeon was not opened until peace came: he +hurried to Ispahan, to seek his patron the vizier, whose life he had +saved. It was three weeks before he could obtain an audience. Fifteen +years, in prison, make some change in the appearance of a handsome +young man. Bekir was not easily to be recognized: and the vizier did +not know him again. However, on calling to mind the various events of +his own illustrious life, he did remember that Bekir had done him some +trifling service. "Aye--yes, friend," said he; "I will requite you. A +brave man--but the empire is deeply in debt: a long war, and grand +feastings have exhausted our finances. However--come and see me +again--I will try--I will see"--"Alas, my lord!" said Bekir, "I have +not a morsel of bread; and in the fifteen days that I have been +waiting for a moment's interview with your highness, I should have +died of hunger, but for a soldier of the guard, my old comrade, who +shared his pay with me." "That was very good of the soldier," said the +vizier; "really, it is quite touching. I will report it to the king. +Come and see me again; you know I love you." And with these words, he +turned his back upon him. Bekir returned the next day, and found the +gate closed. In despair, he left the palace and the city, resolving +never to enter them again. + +Throwing himself at the foot of a tree, on the bank of the river +Zenderou, he reflected upon the ingratitude of viziers, his own past +misfortunes, and those which menaced him; and, unable to endure +thoughts so dismal, he arose, to plunge into the stream--when he felt +himself clasped by a beggar, who bathed his face with tears, and +sobbed out, "it is my brother; it is my dear Bekir!" Looking up, Bekir +recognised Mesrou. No one can find a long-lost brother without +pleasure; but an unfortunate, needy, friendless, and hopeless, who is +about to end his life in despair, thinks, that in a brother whom he +loves, he sees an angel from Heaven. Mesrou and Bekir at once felt +this sentiment: they press each other to their bosoms--they mingle +their tears--and, after the first moments of tenderness, they gaze at +each other with affliction and surprise. "You too, then, are unhappy!" +cried Bekir. "This is the first moment of happiness," said Mesrou, +"that I have enjoyed since our separation." At these words, embracing +again, they leaned upon each other; and Mesrou, seated beside Bekir, +began his narrative as follows: + +"You remember the fatal day, when we went to Alzim's abode. That +perfidious genius told me, that I should find Bathmendi, the object of +our desires, at court. I followed his advice, and soon arrived at +Ispahan. There I became acquainted with a young female slave to the +mistress of the grand vizier's first secretary. This slave took a +liking for me, and made me known to her mistress; who finding me +younger and handsomer than her lover, lodged me in her own house, as +her half-brother. The half-brother was soon presented to the vizier: +and some days afterwards, obtained an office in the palace. I had only +to let my fortune lead me on, and to remember the path which had +brought me thus far. I never quitted that path: and, the sultana +mother being old, ugly, and all-powerful, I failed not to pay my court +assiduously to her. She distinguished me, by a friendship as intimate +as that of the slave and her mistress had been. Thenceforward, honors +and riches began to rain upon me. The sultana caused me to be +presented with all the money in the treasury, and all the dignities of +the state. The monarch himself testified affection for me: he loved to +converse with me, because I flattered him adroitly, and always advised +him to what I knew he wished to do. This was the way to induce him to +do what I wished; and it soon succeeded. At the end of three years, I +was at once prime minister, favorite of the king, lover of his mother, +with power to appoint and displace viziers; deciding every thing by my +influence, and giving audience every morning to the grandees of the +empire, who came to wait for my awaking to obtain a smile of +protection. Amidst all my wealth and glory, I was surprised at not +finding Bathmendi. 'I want for nothing,' said I; 'why does not +Bathmendi present himself?' This thought, and the frightful solicitude +of my life, poisoned all my pleasures. As the sultana grew older, she +became more difficult to please, and my gratitude grew more irksome. +Her tenderness for me was a torment. On the other hand, my station +procured me a thousand tiresome flatterers, and a hundred thousand +powerful enemies. For every favor I conferred, hardly a single mouth +thanked, and a thousand reviled me. The generals whom I appointed were +defeated, and all was attributed to me. Whatever good the king did, +belonged only to himself; all the evil was laid at my door. The people +detested me--the whole court hated, a hundred libels excoriated me: my +master often frowned, the sultana-mother sickened me by her fondness; +and Bathmendi seemed more distant than ever. + +"At length, the king's passion for a young Mingrelian gave the +finishing stroke to my fortunes. The whole court united with her, in +hopes that the mistress would expel the minister. I parried the blow, +by joining the Mingrelian, and flattering the king's passion. But his +love became so violent, that, being resolved to espouse her, he +demanded my advice. I evaded an answer for some days. The sultana +mother, who was afraid of losing her power by her son's marriage, +declared to me, that unless I broke off the match, she would have me +assassinated on the very day of its consummation. An hour afterwards, +the fair Mingrelian vowed, that _unless I procured her marriage with +the king the next day_, I should be strangled on the day following. My +position was embarrassing. I must choose the dagger, the bowstring, or +flight. I chose the last. Disguised as you see, I escaped from the +palace with some diamonds, which will sustain us in some nook of +Hindostan, far from courts, Mingrelians, and sultana mothers." + +Bekir then recited his adventures to Mesrou. They agreed, that it +would have been as well for them not to run over the world; and that +their wisest course was, to return to Kusistan, to the neighborhood of +their brother Tai, where Mesrou's diamonds would procure them a +peaceful and easy life. Thus resolved, they took the road, and +travelled for some days without an adventure. As they passed through +the province of Farsistan, they arrived one evening at a village, +where they proposed to spend the night. It was a holiday. Upon +entering the village, they saw many children of the peasants' +returning from a procession, led by a sort of master, ill clad, +marching with downcast look and pensive air. The two brothers +approach, and observe him attentively. What was their surprise! It was +Sadder--their brother Sadder, whom they embraced! + +"Ah!" said Bekir, "is genius thus rewarded?"--"You perceive," answered +Sadder, "that genius is treated much like valor. But philosophy finds +in misfortune an ample subject for meditation; and that is somewhat +consoling." He then sent his pupils to their home, conducted Bekir and +Mesrou to his little cabin, served them up a little rice for supper, +and, after having heard their histories, told his own: + +"Alzim, who, I strongly suspect, delights in the woes of mankind, +counselled me to seek this undiscoverable Bathmendi in the great city +of Agra, among men of genius and fair ladies. I arrived in Agra; and +determined, before I appeared in public, to herald myself by some +brilliant production. At the end of a month, my work appeared: it was +a complete course of all human sciences, in a small octodecimo volume +of sixty pages, divided into chapters. Each chapter comprised a tale; +and each tale taught a science perfectly. My book had prodigious +success. Some reviews cavilled at it, as too prolix: but all people of +fashion bought it; and I was consoled for the criticisms. My book and +I became all the rage. I was sought for--invited into every circle +that had any pretension to wit or genius: all that I did was charming: +I was the theme of every tongue, and every wish; and the favorite +sultana with her own hand wrote me a badly spelled note, praying me to +visit the court. 'Bravo!' thought I; 'Alzim has not deceived me. My +glory is at its height: I shall sustain myself by surer means than +intrigue: I shall please--I shall captivate--I shall find Bathmendi!' +I was favorably received at the great Mogul's palace. The sultana +loudly proclaimed herself my patroness; called upon me for verses; +gave me pensions; admitted me to her select suppers; and, a hundred +times a day, swore to me an unalterable friendship. For my part, I +gave myself up to the liveliest gratitude. I promised to devote my +days to singing the renown of my benefactress; and made a poem, in +which the sun was but a mock-diamond beside her eyes, and ivory, +coral, and the pearls of the Persian gulf, were dim and homely +compared with her face, neck, and teeth. These refined and delicate +compliments completed my assurance of her perpetual favor. + +"I thought myself on the point of meeting Bathmendi, when my +protectress quarrelled with the grand vizier, about the government of +a province, which he refused to the son of her confectioner. The +sultana, exasperated at such audacity, demanded of the sultan the +banishment of the insolent minister; but the sultan loved the vizier, +and refused the favorite. The next thing was to organize an intrigue, +to destroy the cherished vizier. Being in the plot, I received orders +to compose a bloody satire against the minister, and circulate it. The +satire was soon made--that is not difficult: it was even good--which +is still easy: it was read with avidity--and that is sure to tell. The +vizier soon learned that I was the author. Going to the favorite, he +carries her the commission which he had before denied, and a draft +upon the royal treasury for one hundred darics; only asking in return, +permission to put me to death in a dungeon. 'He is a vile wretch,' +answered the favorite; 'and I am happy in having the power to do what +may please you. I will instantly have the insolent sought for, who has +dared insult you against my positive orders; and he shall be put into +your hands.' Happily, a slave who was present, ran to tell me of this +conversation; and I had barely time to escape. Ever since, I have been +traversing Hindostan, gaining a meager subsistence by writing tales, +making verses, and toiling for booksellers who cheated me, and who, +less indulgent to my talents than to their own consciences, +continually asserted that my _style was not pure enough_. Whilst I was +wealthy, my works had been master-pieces: now that I was poor and +friendless, my effusions were trash. Tired at length of enlightening +the universe, I preferred teaching the peasants to read: and I am now +schoolmaster in this village, where I eat black bread, and have no +hope of seeing Bathmendi." + +"You must go hence," said Mesrou, "and return with us to Kusistan, +where some diamonds of mine will ensure us an easy and quiet life." It +was not difficult to persuade Sadder; and the three brothers, setting +out early next morning, took the way to Kusistan. They were on the +last day of their journey; and not far from Tai's dwelling. This +thought consoled them: but their hope was mingled with fear. "Shall we +find our brother? We left him poor--he cannot have found Bathmendi, +since he has been unable to go in quest of him." "My dear friends," +said Sadder, "I have reflected much on this Bathmendi, that Alzim told +us of; and really, I believe he deluded us. Bathmendi does not, and +never did exist: for, since Bekir did not meet him when he commanded +half the Persian army--since Mesrou did not hear of him when he was +the favorite of the great king--and I could not even divine who or +what he was, whilst the favors of glory and fortune were heaped upon +me--it is evident, Bathmendi is a creature of fancy; a chimera; an +illusion, which men chase merely from the love of chasing illusions." +Sadder was proceeding to prove that Bathmendi dwelt no where on earth, +when a band of robbers issued from some rocks on the road-side, and +ordered the brothers to strip. Bekir offered resistance; but he was +disarmed; and four of these gentry, holding a dagger at his breast, +unrigged him, while their comrades did the like to Mesrou and Sadder. +After this ceremony, which was the work of a moment, the captain of +the robbers wished them a pleasant journey, and left them half naked +in the highway. + +"This confirms my position:" said Sadder, looking at his brothers. +"Ah, the cowards!" cried Bekir; "they took away my sword!" "Oh, my +poor diamonds!" said Mesrou, sorrowfully. + +It was now night: the three unfortunates hastened on towards the +mansion of their brother: and on arriving there, the sight of it made +their tears flow fast. They stopped at the door, but durst not knock. +All their fears, all their doubts, returned. While they hesitated, +Bekir rolled up a large stone below the window, and mounting upon it, +looked in. He saw, in a neat and simply furnished apartment, his +brother Tai at table, amid ten children, who were eating, laughing, +and prattling all together. On his right was Amine, mincing some meat +for her youngest son; and on his left was a little old man of a mild +and lively countenance, who was filling Tai's cup. At this spectacle, +Bekir threw himself into the arms of his brothers, and knocked at the +door with all his might. A servant opened it, but uttered cries of +alarm on seeing three half-naked men. Tai runs out: they fall upon his +neck, call him "brother!" and bathe him in tears. Though confounded at +first, he soon recognises them, and locks them in his arms. The +children run to the spectacle; and so does Amine, but retires with her +daughters, on seeing the three strange men. The old man alone did not +leave the table. + +Tai clothed his brothers; presented them to his wife, and made them +kiss his children. "Alas!" said Bekir, much affected, "your happy lot +consoles us for all that we have suffered. Since the moment of our +separation, our lives have been but a series of calamities; and we +have not so much as had a glimpse of that Bathmendi, after whom we +have been running." "I believe you"--said the little old man who +continued still at the table; "I have never stirred from this place." +"What!" exclaimed Mesrou, "are you ..." "I am BATHMENDI," said the old +man. "It is quite natural that you should not know me, since you never +saw me before: but ask Tai--ask Amine--and all these children, every +one of whom knows my name. I have lived with them fifteen years; and +am perfectly at home here. I have been away but for one day; it was +when Amine's father died: but I returned, and now hope never to go +hence a single step. It rests only with yourselves, gentlemen +adventurers, to become acquainted with me. If it so please you, I am +willing: if not, why I shall be content. I trouble no one: I stay in +my corner, never dispute, and detest noise." The three brothers, whose +eyes had been eagerly fixed upon the little old man, wished to embrace +him. "O, softly!" said he: "I do not like all these violent emotions: +I am rather delicate; and too close an embrace stifles me. Besides--we +must become friends before we caress. If you wish us to become +friends, do not busy yourselves too much about me. I value freedom +more than politeness; and have an antipathy to all excess." At these +words he arose, kissed the foreheads of all the children, slightly +saluted the three brothers, smiled upon Amine and Tai; and went to +await them in their chamber. + +Tai sat down again with his brothers, and had beds prepared for them. +The next morning, he shewed them his fields, his flocks, his working +beasts; and unfolded to them all the pleasures he enjoyed. Bekir +wished to begin work that very day; and he was the first to become the +friend of Bathmendi. Mesrou, who had been prime minister, was the +chief shepherd; and the poet assumed the task of selling the corn, +wool, and milk, which were sent to market in the city. His eloquence +attracted customers; and he was as useful as the others. At the end of +six months, Bathmendi became attached to them; and their days, many +and tranquil, flowed softly on to the bosom of felicity. + +[It is needless to say, that _Bathmendi_, in the Persian tongue, +signifies _Happiness_.] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +A SCENE IN PARIS--1827. + +BY A VIRGINIAN. + + +In the month of May 1827 I was in Paris. The discontent of the people +with the government had recently been augmented by a proposition to +restrain the liberty of the press, which the king had laid before the +legislative chambers; and which, having passed the deputies, was under +consideration before the peers. + +This discontent with a government, which was in point of fact a very +good one, had existed since the restoration of the Bourbons, and had +its origin in the degradation to which the French people conceived +themselves to have been subjected, in receiving a monarch at the hands +of hostile strangers. + +This monarch too was the brother of that imbecile, though amiable +king, whose passiveness had brought him to the scaffold like a lamb to +the slaughter; and he was placed in powerful contrast with him whose +grand ambition aspired to make France his court, and the eastern +continent (perhaps the world,) his empire. Louis le gros was to occupy +the throne of Napoleon the magnificent. + +The national pride common to all nations, and the national vanity +peculiar to the French, were thus so severely shocked and wounded, +that the people could not regard with their characteristic loyalty, or +even with toleration, the family whose ascendancy had been established +by other hands than those of Frenchmen. Louis the 18th too, had +violently aggravated this hostility by the unfortunate declaration +that "under God, it was to the Prince Regent of England that he owed +his crown." It was not then to be wondered at that the public mind was +in a state to be easily exacerbated by any cause, and not to be +conciliated by any course however moderate, short of absolute +concession to the popular will. Accordingly the measures of Louis the +18th, who was a wise monarch, and really desired the welfare of his +people, met with jealous opposition, or at best, with unwilling +acquiescence. + +The administration of Décazes, which was conducted upon wise and sound +principles, was finally clamored down; and the court, finding the +people incapable of appreciating the mild and liberal measures of the +government, infused more strength into their system. + +Charles the 10th, inferior to his brother in mental endowments, and +who brought to the throne stricter notions of legitimacy, and less +disposition to conciliate his subjects, rather tightened than relaxed +the reins of government, and thus increased the disaffection of the +people. Add to this the real or fancied attachment of the king to the +Jesuits, against whose order ancient odium had been recently revived, +and the feelings may easily be conceived which were excited by the +menaced blow at the freedom of the press, which was pending at the +time of which I write. + +These feelings were put forth through the usual vents. The public +journals made the most of their liberty while it remained to them, and +kept up an incessant fire of various grades; from the grave +remonstrances of the "Constitutionnel," to the piquant badinage of the +"Drapeau Blanc." The Salons, the Cafés, the Boulevards, the Tuileries, +the Champs Elysées and the Pont Neuf exhibited the politicians of +their respective meridians, from the "riche banquier" to "Monsieur le +tondeur de chiens." The print shops displayed caricatures of the +Jesuits. Beranger "showed up" the royal family in his songs. Mars +played "Tartuffe" at the Francais, and the "parterre" rapturously +applauded her and snapped their fingers at the police. + +Early in the month, the annual review by the king, of the regular +troops stationed in Paris, was to take place. + +By one of those tacit combinations which sometimes unaccountably +occur, it was resolved that this review should serve as an occasion +for affording an evidence of the sentiments of the people, which +though negative in mode, should be sufficiently positive in character. +It was determined to withhold from the king those testimonials of +attachment and loyalty with which most of the people of Europe are +wont to greet their sovereigns when they appear in public. Accordingly +when on the expected morning, the king with his brilliant suite issued +from the court of the palace, not one of the spectators uttered a +sound of welcome. The place of the review was a mile and a half +distant, and the route was through populous streets; yet from all the +crowd which gradually swelled as the train advanced, not one voice was +heard to utter "vive le roi!" No man cried "God save him." A uniform +silence pervaded the scene, thus giving it the air of a funeral +pageant, rather than of a splendid military display; while at every +turn which the royal company made in their progress, this portentous +legend inscribed on the walls, met their eyes-- + + "La silence du peuple est la lecon du Roi." + +Proceeding more rapidly and by a nearer route, I reached the Champ de +Mars, the scene of the review, in time to witness the king's arrival. +The Champ de Mars is a beautiful plain, artificially levelled; a +quarter of a mile in breadth, and extending from the Seine to the +école militaire, rather more than half a mile in length--bounded on +each side by embankments, appearing to the eye like ramparts, which +are covered with turf and set with trees.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The Champ de Mars was the scene of the famous "fête de la +fédération," which took place in 1790, on the 14th of July, the +anniversary of the taking of the Bastile; when the king, the +representatives of the people, and the other public functionaries, the +commandant of the National Guard, and delegates sent from each of the +eighty-three departments of the kingdom, took an oath to preserve the +new constitution. A splendid altar, called "l'autel de la patrie," was +erected in the middle of the field, around which was an amphitheatre +which held four hundred thousand spectators; in the centre of this was +the throne of the king. All the people of Paris assisted in making +these preparations, that they might be completed by the appointed +time. The Bishop of Autun (Talleyrand) was the ministering flamen of +the solemnities. At the celebration an incident occurred, illustrating +the far seeing sagacity of this man, who thus early discerned the +frail and transient nature of that constitution, which its founders +had decreed should be "une, indivisible, et impérissable." Lafayette, +as commandant of the National Guard, was the first to take the oath; +and as he approached the altar for that purpose, Talleyrand in an +under tone exhorted him to keep his countenance and not to laugh! thus +indicating that he considered the whole scene a solemn farce. I had +this anecdote from an American lady to whom Lafayette told it.] + +I found as I had expected, these embankments covered throughout their +whole extent with an innumerable crowd, eager at once to behold the +spectacle and to convince the king that Frenchmen could be silent when +there was an occasion for it, however unnatural the restraint. + +I found also the troops to be reviewed, twenty-five thousand in +number, drawn up in beautiful array, and arranged on the plain between +the embankments, in separate divisions, according to their various +designations; the whole forming two lines looking to the centre of the +field, and of course facing each other. + +Here were the famed Cuirassiers, arrayed in triple steel--each one +looking the impersonation of war--men and horses forming a dense, +motionless, terrific mass. + +There, were the "Chevaux-légers," less imposing in appearance, but +dazzling the eye by the brilliancy of their dress and the rapidity of +their evolutions. + +On one side frowned the "Sappeurs Pompiers," with their ample caps of +black fur, their white leather aprons, their glittering axes, their +grim moustaches, and beards like Egyptian sheiks. On the other were +displayed the regular infantry, with their brilliant pieces and +bristling bayonets, at whose points they had so often compelled +victory. + +The elder superior officers were conversing in groups--while the +younger paid court to the ladies; whose nodding plumes and wreathed +smiles were displayed in covered stages erected temporarily for the +purpose, and arranged at the inner foot of the embankment on either +side of the field. + +In a short time a flourish of trumpets at the école militaire, +announced the arrival of the King. The officers flew to their posts. +Every tongue was hushed, and every eye directed to that extremity of +the field at which the king now appeared, mounted on a white Arabian, +which he managed as one familiar to the seat. He was attended on +either side by the royal dukes Angoulême and Orléans, (the present +king) and followed by a splendid cortège of field marshals and general +officers in gorgeous uniforms, and their horses highly caparisoned. + +The king too, and the royal dukes, wore military uniforms, over which +hung the "cordon bleu." After the king and his suite, came an open +barouche, in which appeared the royal ladies d'Angoulême, de Berri and +d'Orléans. + +The magnificent cavalcade moved slowly on between the different bodies +of troops, going down on one side of the field and returning on the +other, passing close in front of each line. Their approach was +acknowledged with the promptitude of military discipline, by the +waving of swords, the presentation of pieces, and the lowering of +standards. But this formal military salute was the only greeting. A +silence reigned throughout the immense mass of beholders, as profound +as that which habitual discipline preserved among the troops. + +After the review was thus completed, a few evolutions were performed +by the troops in presence of the royal spectators, who then left the +field and returned to the Tuileries. + +In a very few days after, it was announced that the king, with a +moderation and wisdom which were not expected, had yielded to the +unequivocal exhibition of public opinion which had been made, and had +withdrawn the offensive law from the consideration of the chambers. +The demonstrations of public joy were then as numerous and violent as +had been before, the expressions of dissatisfaction. For several days +it seemed as if the whole population of Paris had relinquished every +employment, to devote themselves to the most tumultuous display by +every means in their power, of their satisfaction at the victory which +they supposed they had obtained over the court. The public rejoicing +was concluded by a general and splendid illumination of the city. + +About ten days after this time, followed the annual review of the +National Guard of Paris. + +In the excited state of the people, it was not to be expected that so +remarkable an occasion as this, would be permitted to pass over, +without being marked by some decisive evidence of public sentiment. It +was therefore soon generally understood that the king would, on this +occasion, be received with every outward demonstration of popular +favor and affection; in order that by the contrast with his former +reception, he might be convinced beyond the possibility of doubting, +that in both instances a strong expression of public opinion was +intended. + +Of course it was not imagined that all this was not as well known to +the king and his ministers, as to the authors and contrivers. Villèle, +the prime minister, was too sagacious and wary to leave unemployed any +means of obtaining information concerning every subject which agitated +the public mind--information indeed which was of the highest +importance to an administration steering full against the current of +popular opposition. It was therefore feared that the court, usually +desirous of avoiding and preventing all occasions for popular ferment, +would disappoint the public expectation by dispensing with the review. +Innumerable conjectures and rumors floated about like vapors in the +atmosphere, many of which no doubt had their origin in the cabinet, +who probably sent them forth as feelers of the public pulse. All these +at length centred in the general belief that the court would +compromise the matter with the people, by permitting the review to +take place indeed, but by assigning as its locale, the Place du +Carrousel, (adjacent to the Tuileries,) where too little space could +be allowed for spectators, to afford a theatre for the grand +exhibition of public sentiment which had been arranged for the +occasion. + +Thus matters stood on the morning of the expected day, which opened in +all the calm glories of May, on the magnificent city and her million +of inhabitants; all ranks of whom, from the courtier to the beggar, +were for once at least occupied by the same theme and excited by the +same agency. + +The Moniteur, the government print, was eagerly torn open by thousands +of hands, and thousands of eyes glanced upon the unexpected +announcement that the review of the National Guard would take place +(as usual) at the Champ de Mars! + +The people were somewhat taken aback by this unlooked for boldness on +the part of the ministry, but their excitement was not lessened by it. +On the contrary it increased until the great city resembled the +swarming of a mighty hive. + +At length the hour appointed for the review arrived, and at that hour +the king, followed by the same brilliant train which had on a former +occasion attended him, once more issued from the palace gates. But not +now as before, was his progress in silence. Every step of his advance +was marked by the most tumultuous and joyous acclamations, which grew +louder as the throng increased, until he reached the Champ de Mars. +The deafening shout of welcome which greeted him from the hundreds of +thousands of spectators there assembled, would have impressed one, +ignorant of the immediate cause, with the belief that Charles the 10th +rivalled in popularity his illustrious ancestor Henry the 4th; or the +still more illustrious usurper of the Bourbon throne, whose star had +just set in St. Helena. + +The appearance now exhibited by the Champ de Mars differed but little +from that already described, save that the eye of a critical observer +would have discerned a marked difference between the unmilitary +bearing of the "Milice Bourgeoise," and the exact discipline and +compact and symmetrical array of the regular troops. The martial dress +and perfect armament of the National Guard however, together with +their number, which perhaps exceeded that of the troops at the first +review, gave them a sufficiently imposing appearance. + +The Royal personages and their splendid escort advanced towards the +assembled legions, amid cries from every side, of "vive le roi!" "vive +la famille royale!" "vivent les Bourbons!" marking the different +feelings of those who uttered them. The "vive le roi" was on this +occasion merely a "mot de coedille circonstance," a conventional mode +of acknowledging with respect the presence of the monarch. But the +heart had some little agency in prompting "vive la famille royale!" +and "vivent les Bourbons!" These denoted a lurking loyalty, and were +uttered, as I observed, almost exclusively by the females. And this +serves to illustrate the remarkable fact that while the minds of a +large majority of French-men still retained the inclination given to +them by the Republic or the Empire, almost every French-woman was a +decided royalist. The fair sex are usually for the powers that be. + +A little incident which occurred on this occasion may be mentioned as +indicative of the sprightliness of the French character. A vagabond +urchin (the like of whom would in our country have been staring in +puzzled wonderment at the scene before him) seeming to enter fully +into the humor of his elders, just as the carriage passed him in which +rode the royal dames, tossed up his ragged cap and exclaimed "vive la +duchesse de Berri toute seule!" + +The moment the king reached the first company of the Guards, all its +members, as they gave the military salute, shouted "vive le roi!" +which passed as a watchword from company to company as in turn he +approached them, until at length the entire National Guard were +swelling the chorus of gratulation and welcome. + +The harmony was perfect, and the public satisfaction was at its +height, when suddenly a change came over the scene, as rapid and +violent as a storm in tropical climates which in an instant blots the +face of the sunniest day with blackness and wrath. + +The review was nearly finished, when a voice was heard from the +company which the king was at the moment passing, mingling with the +cries of "vive le roi," the exclamations "à bas les ministres!" "à bas +les Jésuites!"[2] + +[Footnote 2: Down with the ministers, &c.] + +A momentary silence following this bold expression, the king instantly +stopped and with becoming spirit said, that he was there to review the +National Guard and not to receive dictation. At the same moment he +ordered the Duc de Reggio, the commandant of the National Guard, (who +was one of his suite) to cause the individual to be arrested who had +uttered the offensive words. The duke promptly passed the order to the +captain of the company; but its execution was at once resisted by the +whole company, who closed around their comrade and energetically +declared that he should not be arrested; and that they all thought as +he did. It was evident that an attempt to enforce the order for arrest +would produce a display of the most alarming violence; it was +therefore wisely abandoned, and the king abruptly left the field. + +Immediately a scene of the wildest confusion ensued. The demon of +discord usurped the empire of the spirit of harmony, and in the +twinkling of an eye converted the genial current of good feeling into +the bitter waters of strife. + +The troops were instantly dismissed by their officers, and they +mingling with the immense crowd of spectators, the whole mass returned +with tumultuous haste to the city, uttering cries of passion, of +discontent or of derision. "À bas les ministres! à bas les Jésuites! à +bas les Bourbons! vive la charte! au diable Villéle!" &c. &c., issued +from lips which but a few minutes before sent forth expressions of +attachment and loyalty. + +The residences of Villéle and Peyronnet, the two ministers against +whom popular indignation was chiefly directed, lay immediately in the +route of the returning crowd. A large number, including many of the +National Guard, stopped before the houses, which were separated only +by a street, and seemed by their furious gestures and menacing cries, +to meditate an attack. The ministers were not at home; for the king on +the instant of his rapid return, had called his cabinet together. +Their families were of course in a state of the most dreadful alarm; +but so soon as the crowd ascertained the absence of the ministers, and +that only unprotected females were within, with the characteristic +gallantry of French-men, (who were not yet wrought to revolutionary +phrenzy) they quitted their position and swept on to communicate their +excitement to those of their fellow citizens who had not witnessed the +events. The effect of their coming, upon the population of Paris, was +that of a whirlwind upon the ocean. It excited them to a state of +fearful commotion, and in less than an hour, the din which arose from +every part of this vast city was as the mighty roar of many waters. + +Evening was now approaching; but with it came no diminution of the +wrath of the Parisians. Throughout the night the agitation continued, +and at intervals its sound came through the gloom to startle from +sleep the few who sought repose. + +During all this time the king and his cabinet, unterrified by the +denunciations which resounded in their ears, were planning in secret +council at the Tuileries, a "coup d'état" which was to astonish +France. + +The next morning the Moniteur appeared as usual, and the very first +line of the first column, which was always appropriated to +annunciations made by authority of the government, consisted of the +following momentous words-- + +"La Garde Nationale est licenciée"--(the National Guard is disbanded.) + +Had a volcano burst forth in the "place Vendome," the people of Paris +could not have been more astounded. The step was indeed of a boldness +bordering on temerity; for the National Guard was the last remnant of +the revolution--the only connecting link between the present time and +the days of the republic; and its association with revolutionary +remembrances rendered it sacred in the estimation of all those who +professed to entertain the principles of the revolution. And those +were at this time more than three-fourths of the population. + +Surprise for a time so completely mastered every other emotion, that +the people were comparatively calm--but this calm was only the +precursor of a fiercer excitement. For several days the commotion +presented the aspect of a menaced revolt. It was by many likened to +the commencing scenes of the revolution; and it filled with anxiety +and dread, all moderate persons who recollected that period of horror. +The entire population of Paris (at least the middle and lower orders) +deserted their homes and thronged the streets and public squares; and +in all parts of the city the tumult of the populace was like the +heaving of a troubled sea.[3] + +[Footnote 3: An officer of cavalry with whom I was acquainted, told me +that the agitation far exceeded that which was caused in Paris by the +news of Napoleon's flight from Elba and debarkation in France.] + +On one of the nights when the agitation was greatest, I went to the +Rue St. Honoré, one of the great thoroughfares of the city, to witness +the movements of the crowd. When I arrived I found it so thronged as +to render it hazardous if not impossible to enter it. As far as by the +aid of the lights, the eye could reach in either direction, the entire +space of the street presented a dense array of human beings, from +which issued sounds of every variety, constituting altogether the most +deafening clang which ever assailed my ears. + +Through the centre of this living mass moved a large body of gendarmes +in single file, reining in their horses to so slow a pace that their +motion through the crowd was barely perceptible. So closely were they +wedged in on every side indeed, that it was impossible to do more than +just to move. + +A fitter agent and emblem of an absolute, or, at least, an energetic +government, does not exist, than a gendarme. Stern, silent, +imperturbable, patient--armed at all points, and the moment there is +need for action, implacable, rapid and sure in execution. On this +occasion these men moved through the crowd as though they saw and +heard them not. On every side they were assailed with jeers, with +execrations, and even occasionally with missiles. But these disturbed +not their unconquerable equanimity. They passed on apparently, +unheeding all; but with their swords drawn, ready at a moment's +warning to strike, should the conjuncture arrive to render it +necessary. + +They were acting of course under the influence of orders, clear and +strict, and carrying with them the severest penalties for violation. +These orders were, no doubt, to refrain from violence until the +occurrence of some overt act on the part of the people, indicative of +a revolutionary spirit; and to do nothing which might by possibility +lead to such an occurrence.[4] + +[Footnote 4: As I had, before going to France, conceived an erroneous +idea of the gendarmes, it may not be useless to explain, that although +as their designation implies, they constitute an armed force, they +have no connection whatever with the army. They are nothing more or +less than the executive police of the kingdom, and are under the +command of the prefect of each department. They are mounted and +completely equipped with sword, pistols, carbine and bayonet; and when +it is recollected that _to resist a gendarme, is to resist the law_, +it will be readily conceived that they are a formidable body. As their +power is great, so also is their responsibility; and they encounter +death as the penalty for any deviation from the strict letter of their +orders. They are perfect machines and the most efficient police in the +world.] + +The people had evidently no matured design. They were unprepared for +the energetic measures of the ministry, so that although they more +than once in different parts of the city, gave occasion to the +gendarmes to charge upon them, and several deaths were the result; it +soon became apparent that the excitement was subsiding. After the +expiration of the third day, the city began to wear a calmer aspect. +The affair merely furnished a theme for animated discussions in the +cafés and for eloquent denunciations in the liberal prints. The surest +evidence, however, that all danger of a serious issue was for the +present at an end, was the fact that the little scandalous journals +which exist in every large city, began to serve up the subject in +humorous scraps; for it has been truly remarked, that if the +Parisians, can but be induced to jest about a matter, it is impossible +afterwards to render it serious. + +The unexpected boldness of this decisive display of state policy thus +rendered it entirely successful. The king and his ministers were +determined to regain the ground which they had lost in yielding the +law concerning the press. + +Fully informed as to the state of the public mind, and ascertaining +that the people had not reached the crisis of revolution, they +resolved to strike a blow which could not be successfully resisted but +by revolution. A more favorable opportunity could not have occurred +than the one which I have attempted to describe; and it was seized +with a promptness and employed with a skill which have never been +excelled. On the very night of the day on which the pretext was given, +the decision was made. At the dawn of day this decision was +communicated to the commanders of all the divisions of the disbanded +body; and with the first rays of the sun the startling annunciation +met the eyes of the astounded Parisians--"_La Garde Nationale est +licenciée!_" + +The very style of the decree is worthy of remark, as being in strict +keeping with the rest. There is no labored preamble--no heavy article +covering six columns of the Moniteur, setting forth the reasons for +the act--no endeavor to render the potion palatable to the people by +conciliatory and cajoling declarations--no attempt to lead off the +public mind by sophistry and a maze of argument--none of this. But the +simple, naked, peremptory mandate of authority not expecting to be +questioned--The stern, terse, despotic "_sic vole_" of absolute +rule--"_La Garde Nationale est licenciée!_" + +The shaft being shot, the cabinet remained perfectly quiet until the +effervescence and confusion created by the discharge, had subsided; +and then resumed the ordinary routine of their administration, having +derived from the review of the National Guard and its results, a +decided accession of power; and for a time at least, impeded the +progress of liberal principles in France. And although the influence +of these principles must, of course, finally have prevailed, there is +little doubt that the time for their ascendancy would have been longer +deferred, had the successor of Villéle possessed his sagacity, his +boldness, his energy, and his knowledge of the existing state of +things. + +Had this been the case, Charles the 10th would perhaps not now be +giving profitless lessons in Royalty to his grandson at Prague, nor +Peyronnet and Chantelauze be playing chess at Ham. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +THE CAVALIERS OF VIRGINIA, or the Recluse of Jamestown. An Historical +Romance of the Old Dominion. By the author of a Kentuckian in New +York. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1834. + +This work is by a Virginian,--and with that sort of partiality which +inclines us to espouse the literary claims of our native state, (too +long and too unjustly neglected,) we were predisposed to receive it +with favor. Some of the northern periodicals moreover had lauded its +merits, and we own that we felt some pride in the reflection that one +of the most interesting periods in our early colonial history, had +attracted a native adventurer in the field of historical romance. We +regret to say that we are much disappointed in the manner in which the +task has been executed. Our feelings and partialities, which were all +on the author's side,--we are compelled to surrender to the stern +demands of literary justice. The "Cavaliers," in our humble opinion, +is unworthy of the subject it was intended to illustrate,--and +although not entirely destitute of merit,--its faults are so numerous +and censurable, they greatly preponderate in the estimate we have +formed of the work. In the first place, the author has evidently +failed to make himself acquainted with the history of the age and the +character of the incidents which he has chosen as the groundwork of +his story. The portrait of Bacon, is but a poor and feeble likeness of +the original,--and that of Sir William Berkeley, is the merest +caricature of that brave, accomplished, but despotic vicegerent of +royal power. Bacon is represented as a kind of half frantic, +inconsiderate stripling--something of a dandy--but more of a wild and +reckless lover, whose thoughts were principally occupied by his "ladye +love;"--and but slightly, if at all, by the wrongs of his suffering +country. Far different indeed, was the noble and lofty heroism of the +real Bacon--a character which shines in the foreground of our ancient +history,--with a lustre, that despite of the efforts made to diminish +it, will vie with the Wallaces and Tells of other ages and countries. +Sir William Berkeley, though certainly a tyrant, was not the vulgar +insensate wretch which our author has made him. His ambition was made +of "sterner stuff," than to be employed upon petty schemes of +matrimonial alliance,--and the Knight, "in a blue velvet doublet and +pink satin breeches," is but an _outre_ representation of the ancient +and renowned Cavalier,--who had battled with the red man in his savage +lair,--and had exchanged the luxuries of English society, for the +perils and hardships of a wilderness. + +There is another capital defect in our author, which if he ever hopes +for success, must be first overcome. He leaves his pictures, both of +character and incident, altogether unfinished,--and darts with a +meteor-like swiftness from subject to subject,--reminding the reader +of a show-box,--in which the eye scarcely lights upon one spectacle, +before it vanishes,--and is substituted by another and a different +one. This perpetual flash and glare, without even the merit of +distinctness, is far more painful than agreeable;--and the author +would do well, if he bestowed more pains in separating the several +parts of his story,--and a little more skill in the arrangement and +harmony of his coloring. In truth, if he intends to repeat his +efforts; and is really a _bona fide_ candidate for fame, we would +advise him to put more oil into his lamp, and expend some additional +labor in fitting his offspring for public exhibition. He does not +employ sufficient _thought_ in the composition of his narrative,--but +suffers his imagination (rich and vivid enough,) to run riot without +restraint or limit. The conduct of Bacon, after the interruption of +the marriage ceremony, as described in the first chapter of the second +volume--is the conduct of a bedlamite, rather than of a rational +being; and the whole scene of his mounting his fiery +courser,--plunging into the river and swimming to the opposite +shore,--his head bared to the "pitiless storm"--"the monsters of the +deep his playmates, and the ill-omened birds of night his fellows;" is +such a tissue of exaggeration and sublime fustian,--that what was +evidently intended for great effect, is in reality extremely +ludicrous. The hero indeed, acts so little like a man of sense, in +this nocturnal aquatic excursion, that the reader feels much more +sympathy for "the white silk breeches and graceful blue cloak," (which +were likely to be spoiled by the half saline element,) than for the +poor unfortunate wight of a bridegroom himself. + +The author has moreover been guilty of a very strange mistake in his +geography. He makes his hero swim, "Leander-like," over the majestic +James,--which according to our reckoning, and agreeably to the map of +the country--would have landed him on the _south side_, in the very +respectable county of _Surry_;--but, to our utter amazement, the next +glimpse we have of him, he is rushing on his fleet courser into the +wilderness on the margin of the Chickahomony,--which our best informed +geographers have placed on the _north_ side of the ancient +_Powhatan_,--now called _James river_. Such mistakes are altogether +inexcusable,--and the more so as the author is a native of the "Old +Dominion," and ought to have been more circumspect in his topography. +Equally unfortunate is his arrangement of historical events,--for if +he had looked a little into our early writers, he would have found +that Bacon was never carried prisoner to the Eastern Shore; and that +the treachery of Larimore, did not betray the insurgent squadron into +the power of Berkeley, until _after_ the destruction of Jamestown. +These errors in chronology however, might have been forgiven, if the +author had otherwise redeemed himself from equally formidable +objections. The whole story of the Recluse,--and the miraculous +preservation of Bacon when an infant, as related by the old +nurse,--strike us as evincing poverty of invention, and as altogether +too absurd for an ordinary writer at least to use as materials for +romance. Scott, perhaps, might have turned them to some advantage;--at +all events, the matchless vigor and beauty of his style, would have +thrown a veil over other imperfections. The author might have made +something of Wyanokee, but unfortunately failed to do it,--and we +cannot say that we even felt interested in the sorrows of Virginia +Fairfax. The girl is well enough--very pretty--amiable--and all that, +but she wants force and individuality of character. The whole scene in +which the dying Mrs. Fairfax is exhibited in the bloody conflict with +the Indians in the neighborhood of Richmond, is particularly horrible, +and in wretchedly bad taste. + +In taking our leave of the author, we would also advise him, when he +writes another romance, to "sink the shop,"--or rather the +_profession_; and not to describe the wounds and bruises of his +_dramatis personæ_ with that technical precision which only surgeons +and anatomists can fully comprehend. We would also recommend to him, +as a medical man, that when any unlucky hero of his is hereafter tied +to an Indian stake, by all means to have him rescued before the pine +splinters have actually pierced the flesh,--especially when that hero +is made so soon thereafter to perform a series of active exploits +requiring sound bodily health and great muscular exertion. + +We have taken no pleasure in this free commentary upon the work before +us, and have only been induced to make it by a sense of duty. Its +author is evidently afflicted with a kind of rabid propensity to write +works of fiction; and, if he is resolved to gratify it, we do most +earnestly entreat him for his own sake and for the sake of his native +state, to invoke hereafter a little more reflection, a purer taste, +and a more enlightened judgment in aid of his labors. + + * * * * * + +VATHEK. + +The publisher having sent a copy of the above work to a correspondent +in whose literary attainments, taste and discrimination we place great +confidence, received the following criticism from his pen: + +I thank you for Vathek, which I have read _purely_ because you sent it +to me; otherwise it would have remained unread by me forever. I see +nothing "_sublime_" in the work; on the contrary, I was disgusted at +its impurity. A more revolting _jumble of nonsense_, _ridiculous +conceptions_, _debasing exhibitions_, and _corrupt imaginings_, I +never met with in my life. This may perhaps be somewhat redeemed by +the oriental descriptions, which were pronounced by Lord Byron, I +think, to be excellent. Or this I cannot judge; but if the book were +intended, as it seems to be, to inculcate the lesson of the impiety of +looking into matters which are too high for us, the moral loses all +its force, from the very great corruption of the characters of Vathek +and Carathis, who certainly were most justly lodged in Hell, as the +fittest place for such useless and abominable wretches. We feel no +sympathy for them, when we find them with their hearts on fire; and as +for the contrast of the happiness of Gulchenrouz, we care as little +about him, for his happiness was certainly undeserved by any thing he +had done, so far as we are made acquainted with him. There is such a +singular mixture of comic and serious, that one is at a loss to know +what the author would be at. What think you, for instance, of the game +at football? of Aboulfakir the camel, having a taste for solitude and +snorting at the sight of a dwelling, and Cafour's predilection for +pestilence? &c. &c. I am quoting now from memory, and have not the +patience to look at the book to see if I am right. + +A learned English reviewer is not less severe upon this lauded +production of juvenile years. After quoting Lord Byron's eulogy upon +the work, he says-- + +Vathek is, indeed, without reference to the time of life when the +author penned it, a very remarkable performance; but, like most of the +works of the great poet who has thus eloquently praised it, it is +stained with some poison-spots--its inspiration is too often such as +might have been inhaled in the "Hall of Eblis." We do not allude so +much to its audacious licentiousness, as to the diabolical levity of +its contempt for mankind. The boy-author appears already to have +rubbed all the bloom off his heart; and, in the midst of his dazzling +genius, one trembles to think that a strippling of years so tender, +should have attained the cool cynicism of a _Candide_. How different +is the effect of that Eastern tale of our own days, which Lord Byron +ought not to have forgotten when he was criticising his favorite +romance. How perfectly does _Thalaba_ realize the idea demanded in the +Welsh Triad of "fulness of erudition, simplicity of language, and +purity of manners." But the critic was repelled by the purity of that +delicious creation, more than attracted by the erudition which he must +have respected, and the diction which he could not but admire:-- + + "The low sweet voice so musical, + That with such deep and undefined delight + Fills the surrender'd soul." + +It would argue a great decline in the moral feeling of our country, +and a most adulterated literary taste, if such works as "Vathek" could +be generally admired. + + * * * * * + +SCRAPS, by John Collins McCabe. Richmond: J. C. Walker. 1835. + +This little volume from the Richmond press, consists of various poems +and half a dozen tales and legends in prose. The pieces, though of +unequal merit, are upon the whole decidedly creditable to the author; +who is not only a young man, but as we are informed, has been denied +the advantages of a liberal education. His productions are vastly +superior to those of many a college dunce, upon whose vacant cranium +the heritage of wealth has been expended; and their author holds a +much higher grade in the scale of intellect than many of that snarling +tribe, who can discern neither talent nor genius, unless allied with +some ideal advantage or accidental distinction. We nevertheless hope +that Mr. McCabe will continue to look ahead, and contemplate the +highest standards of excellence in composition. The most acute +observation of men and things, or the most delicate perception of +poetical imagery, will avail but little without profound mental labor, +and the assiduous cultivation of taste. We select the following as a +favorable specimen of his poetry. + +LINES + +On hearing the song "Sweet Home," and reflections during the same. + + + O breathe again, that touching strain + Which comes like winds o'er waters stealing; + Its fall, its swell, like vesper bell, + Its full rich notes in rapture pealing, + Bids the lone heart, rejoice again + In music's all subduing strain. + + O Music! rapture's in thy chords! + Now gushing soft like moon-beams streaming + On quiet spot, on rural grot, + On mossy couch, on infant dreaming,-- + Or rising into raptures wild, + It fills with wonder nature's child. + + The Exile lone, no land to own, + Lists to thy soft and touching numbers, + And _dreams_ he sees the cot, the trees, + The scenes of youth, (how sweet his slumbers!) + Nor dreams when thy bright spell is o'er + His happy "Home" he'll see no more. + + The sailor boy, bereft of joy, + Looks on the stars above him glowing; + The big tear steals, his bosom feels + As troubled as the waters flowing, + And while the billows round him foam, + He faintly murmurs, "Home! sweet Home!" + + The warrior stern, whose feelings burn + To meet the foe, his rights defending, + When war is o'er, sweet home once more + Its rainbow colors round him blending, + Invites him from the bloody plain + Back to its quiet hearth again. + + The christian warm, round whom the storm + Of opposition wildly rages, + Beholds the prize beyond the skies, + Reflected on the glowing pages + Of God's own book, and with a tear + Of joy, he "reads his title clear." + + O! onward press, life's wilderness + Will soon be past; where spirits linger + Round flowing streams in rapt'rous dreams + And golden lyres, softly finger, + We all shall meet, no more to roam, + And dwell in an eternal home. + + + + +EDITORIAL REMARKS. + + +We continue the interesting "_Sketches of Tripoli and the Barbary +States_." We believe that when completed, they will constitute the +most authentic record extant, of the military and diplomatic +transactions of the period referred to. Besides the author's access to +correct sources of information, he has the taste and talent to impart +peculiar grace and interest to his narrative. + +"_Berenice_," a tale, by Mr. Edgar A. Poe, will be read with interest, +especially by the patrons of the Messenger in this city, of which Mr. +P. is a native, and where he resided until he reached manhood. Whilst +we confess that we think there is too much German horror in his +subject, there can be but one opinion as to the force and elegance of +his style. He discovers a superior capacity and a highly cultivated +taste in composition. + +The "_Extract from the Reminiscences of a Western Traveller_," +proceeding as it does from the pen of a practised and polished writer, +has the additional advantage, as we are assured, of being founded in +strict truth. + +We are sorry that we are not permitted to announce the source from +which we derive the original story or apologue of "_Jonathan Bull and +Mary Bull_." Its own merit however, and its obvious application to +events of the time at which it was written, will attract a due share +of attention. + +We especially recommend to our female readers, particularly the young +and lovely who are just entering into the flowery but deceitful paths +of worldly pleasure, to read the original narrative which is headed +"_Marrying Well_." + +The "_Letters from a Sister_" will amply repay the reader; so also +will the article on the "_Fine Arts_"--and the "_Persian Story_," +translated from the French of Florian. + +The "_Scene in Paris, by a Virginian_," we have no hesitation in +particularly recommending. It is an admirable and graphic description +of what the writer saw with his own eyes,--and the excellent +delineation of the French character, comprising its extremes of energy +and weakness, will forcibly strike the reader. With us the whole +narrative possesses powerful interest. + +It is but sheer justice to insert the letter from "_Larry Lyle_," +(printed by mistake in our last "_Zarry Zyle_,") in answer to the +criticisms of our Shepherdstown correspondent. Mr. Lyle defends his +muse with spirit and ability. + +We also insert from a sense of duty, a letter from the author of a +"_Note to Blackstone's Commentaries_," accompanied by the expression +of our regret that he should have considered himself somewhat unkindly +treated by the gentleman who furnished a reply to that article. We +think we can vouch for it that the gentleman referred to, _fully +intended_ to restrict himself within the bounds of fair and honorable +discussion, and if we had thought differently, his article would have +been excluded. + +We must be excused for saying a word or two in respect to the +_poetical_ department. Unless the reader is very fastidious, he must, +we think, be pleased. We read "_Young Rosalie Lee_" more than once, +before we could fully perceive the exquisite beauty and delicacy of +the mind which produced it,--and we venture the prediction, that +unless the author is divorced from the society of the sacred _nine_ by +paramount duties, he is destined to no ordinary celebrity. We dare say +that for the expression of this opinion, we ourselves shall not be +spared, for we confess there is a quaintness in the style which will +be repulsive to most readers. + +In the "_Stray Leaves_," there is something which reminds us of +Waller's beautiful lines beginning, "Go lovely rose," &c. and we +almost regretted that the author should have so suddenly glided into +the genuine Anacreontic. + +Our readers will agree with us that the remaining pieces, particularly +the "_Extract from an Unfinished Poem_"--the lines "_To Hope_"--"_To +the Bible_"--"_Moonlight_"--and "_Hopes and Sorrows_," have each more +than ordinary claims to admiration. + +The "_Lines on Barlow's Monument_," by the celebrated Helen Maria +Williams, and now published for the first time, need no praise from +our pen; neither do the two original productions of Mrs. Sigourney, +which we take great pleasure in inserting. + +It would be doing us much injustice to suppose that the pieces which +we do not particularly notice, are for that reason lightly esteemed. +Whilst there are, it is true, degrees in the pleasure with which we +regard the favors of contributors, their insertion ought to forbid the +idea that any are unwelcome. + + + + +TO CONTRIBUTORS, CORRESPONDENTS, &C. + + +We thank our correspondent C. W. L. for pointing out the resemblance +between the little epigram entitled "_The Mistake Corrected_," in our +last, and the "_Surprise_," in Little's poems, which he quotes. The +resemblance is certainly strong, and it is quite probable that the +former if not borrowed was at least suggested by the latter. We cannot +agree however, that it is a "plagiarism," in the proper sense of that +term; for we know too well the personal and literary character of the +gentleman who presented us with the trifle referred to, to suspect him +for a moment of so paltry a proceeding. We rather conclude therefore, +that its resemblance to Moore's bagatelle, is either the result of +casual coincidence,--or more probably, perhaps, of an accidental +mistake of the product of memory for that of fancy; a kind of mistake +which those who have read much are very liable to make. + +We assure our correspondent B. R. B. that we have carefully compared +the lines published in our last with his manuscript, and find them to +correspond _verbatim_. He wrongs us much if he thinks we would do him +wilful injustice; and if one word has been substituted for another in +the lines referred to, so as to change their sense, he must ascribe it +to himself. We hope with this explanation he will excuse us from +inserting his letter at full length. + +There is a great deal of feeling in many of the communications sent to +the publisher by T. H. C., M.D.; but to our poor taste, there is not +much _poetry_. We question whether the Doctor will not find the lancet +and pill box of more profit in that warm region to which he has +emigrated, than the offerings of his prolific muse. The poetical +manufacture depends more upon the _quality_ than the _quantity_ of its +fabrics, for success. + +We have received the following communication since the publication of +our last number, from "_Fra Diavolo_," (_Horresco referens!_) which, +as it is brief, we spread before our readers. His sneers at our +"literary morality" and "critical acumen," we receive with great +composure. Perhaps indeed, our vanity might be wounded if we had a +tithe only of what seems to belong to the writer himself; but as our +pretensions are very humble, we care not a farthing whether they are +disputed or not. His request not to publish his poetry, (except on his +own terms) shall be complied with; and should we consign his impure +effusions to the flames, as he also desires, the world will have +little or no cause to regret it. So long as we can secure the rich +contributions received from other quarters, we shall console ourselves +with the loss of "_Fra's_" favors, and even endeavor to survive his +unprovoked resentment. To "give the devil his due," however, we shall +continue to lament the downward flight of our correspondent's muse; +and uninitiated as we profess to be in the sublime mysteries of the +school to which he belongs, we shall even be so perverse as to prefer +the "modest mien and plain attire" of mediocrity, to the more flashy +but less useful adornments of brilliant but misguided genius. One word +in justification of ourselves. We did not admit the "_Doom_" into our +columns without reluctance; a reluctance which nothing would have +overcome but the conviction that a useful moral might be deduced from +the fate of the "_Lover Fiend_," who figures as the hero of the story. +As to the "_Passage of the Beresina_," whether it be "balderdash" or +not, is matter of taste and opinion. One thing is certain; it is from +the pen of a highly accomplished scholar. + +Mr. White,--_I have just seen your sixth number of the Southern +Literary Messenger, and shall decline having my contribution published +on condition of any improvement of the poetry by your most chaste and +wise editor. The admission of such balderdash as the "Doom" and "The +Passage of the Beresina," is quite enough evidence of his literary +morality and good taste. I require no further token of it; least of +all in my own case, where I am to be martyred at the shrine of such +critical acumen--God save the mark! Put the manuscript into the fire, +and oblige yours,_ + +FRA DIAVOLO. + +_March 25, 1835_. + + * * * * * + +_From the author of the "Note to Blackstone's Commentaries."_ + +You judge rightly that I have no call to answer my censor. I have no +pride of authorship in the affair. I wished to awaken the public mind, +and he has aided me, for which he has my thanks. I have no controversy +with him. He argues against opinions I have not advanced, and, in his +last paragraph, comes in aid of that I had endeavored to maintain. By +his own showing a _quasi_ war exists _among ourselves_, under +circumstances which render any nearer approach to peace impossible. We +have the alternative of "a war-like peace, or a peace-like war," and +he wisely prefers the former. He predicates this decision on the only +principle for which I contended, viz: the effect of a continuing +necessity. I only suggested the _possibility_ of such a case. _He_ +finds it existing _in fact_. It doubtless _might_ exist in various +ways. _Destruction_ is the precise object of _savage_ warfare. With +us, it is the _means_ to an end. With savages, it is the _end_ itself. +Had he seen, as I have, a few individuals of once powerful tribes, +escaped from massacre, and saved from utter extinction only by finding +shelter among the whites, he would not have to learn that _bellum ad +internecionem_ is not unknown among savages. + +The style and matter of his essay both show an education which should +have taught him that a supercilious tone should find no place in a +controversy between an anonymous and an avowed author. _He_ wears +defensive armor. _I_ am naked. Is it chivalrous; is it manly; is it +fair, in a contest which should be conducted "as if a brother should a +brother dare to gentle exercise and proof of arms," to thrust with +"unbated point?" His point indeed is not envenomed, nor does he stab +malignantly, but he should have touched my scutcheon with the reverse +of his lance. To strike with the point, however gently, is a challenge +to combat of _outrance_. I decline it. + + * * * * * + +_Extract of a Letter from the Reviewer of Messrs. Adams' and Everett's +Orations_. + +You say, "The most sublime events and the most heroic actions have +generally found some poet or historian of sufficient qualifications to +record them with dignity and effect." Granted, but what is _dignity_? +Does it consist in that sort of declamation which is meant to "split +the ears of the groundlings?" What is _effect_? Is it _stage effect_? +Is it made up of "gun, drum, trumpet, blunderbuss and thunder," and +images placed by the speaker's side to be apostrophized? The example +that you give illustrates the maxim that "the language of eulogy is +misapplied to transcendant greatness. It weakens and dictates the +truth of history." + +You say "even the most exalted truths which have ever dawned upon +mankind,--the facts and doctrines of revelation,--have lost none of +their grandeur in the simple narratives of plain and unlettered men." +Most true. The _simplicity_ of the narrative is its excellence. But +what should we say to a Gospel after the manner of Mr. Adams, or even +of Mr. Everett? + + * * * * * + +_Mr. White_:--The legitimate aim of criticism is, as you yourself have +more than once remarked, to point out the proper path towards +excellence. A true critic effects this by gently and courteously +exposing error, and lauding beauties where beauties are to be found. +So far as I can judge, neither gentleness nor courtesy can be said to +characterize the critique of your "Shepherdstown friend." The want of +these qualities would certainly have induced me to pass over the +letter in question, had it not received honorable notice from +yourself. In the pamphlet war between Matthew Carey and the +redoubtable Cobbett, the first apologizes for his own rudeness, by +quoting the old proverb, "fight the devil with fire," or something to +that amount. But this is bad philosophy; and in my brief answer, I +will endeavor as much as possible to observe that courtesy which your +correspondent has forgotten. + +In the "Song of the Seasons" quaintness was aimed at, and aimed at +only because I thought the subject called for it. One part of my +object was to depict the minute relations existing between the human +heart and earth itself. Minuteness was necessary, and to be minute +without quaintness, would render any piece dull and pointless +analysis. With regard to obscurity, and the use of terms, I would ask +your critic, if when he had "_studied the song_," obscurity did not +disappear, and if the terms are not in keeping with the quaintness +aimed at. Indeed, I would ask him, if the terms used are not just such +as should have been used in any case. Beams _are_ "amethystine." We +will find an admirable application of the word in Keates' "Eve of St. +Agnes;" and Mrs. Hemans sings very prettily of the drowsy "Bugle-Bee." +By the way, let me in this last phrase, adopt the change recommended. +The stanzas quoted is the second of the "_Song_." + + "A white roe wandered where sweet herbs and tender grass were + peeping; + His snowy head was poised in pride, his chainless heart was + leaping: + The '_bumble-bee_' had called the herd from icy solitude,-- + And he had come at '_bumble_' call--fleet centaur of the wood!" + +A vast improvement i' faith. The term "_gauze wing_," is as common as +the rhymes _love_ and _dove_. "_Soughing blasts_" are frequent in +_Wyatt_, and more frequent in _Shakspeare_. An amethystine beam thrown +on a red body produces a glittering gold, and thus the red breast of +"poor robin" was metamorphosed into one of gold. So much for the +criticism. As for the critic, he has most unequivocally proved +himself, by these syllable censures, to be one of the _anceps +syllabarum_ tribe. As such I wonder that you, who have so often +expressed your contempt for the whole race, should have opened your +columns to his communication. Is not his letter a specimen of "the +carpings of illiberal and puerile criticism?" Is not the writer one of +the "little great men in the world, who have the vanity to conceive +that their taste and judgment, (if they have any) is the standard for +all mankind, and who snap and bark like the curs which infest our +streets and annoy the by-ways?" I have used your own words, and ask if +they are not applicable. + +The Song of the Seasons (though never so little deserving,) has +received praise from a higher quarter than Shepherdstown. My home is +not very far from that village--near enough to know the character of +its people; and in truth, gentlemen of talent and distinction are +there with whom I have ever held it an honor to be acquainted. But it +is plain that the critique could not have been written by any one of +them. If I had no other reason for thinking so, I would say, "because +it is not in keeping with the good sense, accurate taste, and elevated +candor which I know these to possess." As for their townsmen, I have +never heard of any Longinus among them, whose praise would not be +disgrace. If your "friend" thinks an answer to this necessary, let me +hope that his name will accompany the communication; or if he is +unwilling to annoy, with private concerns, the public "upon whom Larry +Lyle has [already] inflicted the _study_ of his song," his +communication may be directed, not to yourself, but to his very humble +servant, + +LARRY LYLE. + +_Winchester, Va._ + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. +I., No. 7, March, 1835, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57433 *** |