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diff --git a/57871-0.txt b/57871-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2795eab --- /dev/null +++ b/57871-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8193 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57871 *** + + + + + + + + +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, MAY 1835. [NO. 9. + +T. W. WHITE, PRINTER AND PROPRIETOR. FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S NOTICE. + + +The _Publisher_ has the pleasure of announcing to his friends and +patrons that he has made an arrangement with a gentleman of approved +literary taste and attainments, to whose especial management the +editorial department of the "Messenger" has been confided.--This +arrangement, he confidently believes will increase the attractions of +his pages,--for besides the acknowledged capacity of the gentleman +referred to, his abstraction from other pursuits will enable him to +devote his exclusive attention to the work. + +With this ample assurance therefore, that the public patronage will be +met by renewed efforts to give general satisfaction, the publisher +earnestly hopes that his friends will aid him in extending the +circulation of the Messenger. A reasonable enlargement of the +subscription list will afford the means of occasionally embellishing +its pages with handsome drawings and engravings--and especially +sketches of some of those remarkable natural curiosities and +picturesque scenes, with which Virginia, and the Southern country +generally, abounds. In this way the publisher hopes to make his +periodical a repository of not only every thing elegant in literature, +but tasteful in the arts; and his generous and intelligent supporters +may rest assured, that whilst a moderate reward for his own labors is +indispensable--his principal aim is to multiply the sources of +intellectual pleasure, and increase the facilities for improvement. + +It is due to the gentleman who has acted as editor up to the present +period, that the publisher should, in parting with him, express that +deep feeling of gratitude which his disinterested friendship could not +fail to inspire. At the commencement of the Messenger, when the +prospect of its success was doubtful, and when many judicious friends +augured unfavorably of the enterprise, the late editor volunteered his +aid to pilot the frail bark if possible into safe anchorage--nor did +he desert it until all doubt of success had ceased. The efforts of +that gentleman are the more prized, because they were made at a +considerable sacrifice of ease and leisure, in the midst too of +avocations sufficiently arduous to occupy the entire attention of most +men,--and because they were rendered without hope or expectation of +reward. And the publisher embraces this occasion, to declare that the +success of the Messenger has been greatly owing to the judicious +management of the editorial department by that gentleman. For services +of so much value, rendered with no other object than a desire to +promote the establishment of a literary periodical in Virginia, the +publisher is deeply indebted to him--and the readers of the work will, +we doubt not, long remember his efforts in their behalf. To him +belongs the merit of having given his disinterested aid in the season +of its early feebleness. His successor has but to follow in the path +which has thus been marked out by a hardy and skilful literary +pioneer. + +T. W. WHITE, _Publisher and Proprietor_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY + +And Present Condition of Tripoli, with some accounts of the other +Barbary States. + +No. VI. + + +In the last number of these sketches, it was stated that Hamet "went +to Derne in 1809, where he passed the remainder of his life in quiet, +as Bey of the two Eastern Provinces." This has been since discovered +to be incorrect; within two years afterwards, he was again expelled by +the Pasha, for some cause or pretence, and obliged to fly with his +family to Egypt, where he died. In October, 1832, a man appeared at +the American Consulate in Alexandria, who declared himself to be +Mahommed Bey, eldest son of Hamet Caramalli; he stated that his +father's family were living in great indigence at Cairo, and his +object was to ascertain whether any relief could be expected for them +from the United States. + +The conduct of the Bey of Tunis during the early part of the war +between Tripoli and the United States, has been already exposed. He +continued to observe the subsequent occurrences with great +attention,--manifesting the utmost anxiety with regard to the result. +He saw with dismay the increase of the American forces in the +Mediterranean, and the distressed condition to which Yusuf was reduced +by the determined manner in which they had been employed; and he +rightly conceived that by thus unveiling the weakness of one of the +Barbary States, the system which they were all interested in +preserving, was placed in jeopardy. With a view to avert the +apprehended danger, he made frequent offers of mediation, which having +been declined, he determined if possible to force a conclusion +favorable to his interests, by a display of hostile intentions against +the United States. + +For this he soon found an excuse in the blockade of Tripoli. We have +seen that he at first refused to acknowledge this blockade, on the +just grounds that it was not maintained by a competent force; when +that force was increased so as effectually to close the port, he +insisted, that being at peace with the United States, his vessels had +the right of proceeding to any place without interruption by them, and +that the passport granted by the American Consul ought always to +afford them protection from the armed forces of his nation. The +passports granted by the Consuls of Christian powers in the Barbary +states, are merely certificates that the vessel is owned in the +country where the Consul resides, with a statement of her class, her +name and that of her captain, and other particulars requisite to +identify her; it protects the vessel from detention or capture by the +armed ships of the nation in whose name it is issued, for one year +after its date. The Consul in vain represented this to the Bey, and +endeavored to explain the principles of blockade; shewing that an +attempt to enter Tripoli would be a hostile act on the part of the +vessel making it, but on her part only, and should not necessarily +create any unfriendly feelings between the two governments; and that +the vessels of several Christian nations had been taken by the +American squadron, while they were thus endeavoring to force the +blockade, and condemned without any complaints having been made by +their governments.--To these representations, the Bey refused to +listen, contending that Christian laws and usages were not applicable +to affairs in which Oriental States were concerned; and declaring that +the capture of a Tunisian vessel by the Americans would be followed by +a declaration of war against them. + +The question was at length brought to a direct issue. On the 24th of +May, an armed vessel under Tunisian colors, with two prizes, attempted +to enter the port of Tripoli, and were taken by the frigate +Constitution. On examination, it appeared that the cruiser +corresponded in no point with the description in the passport +exhibited by her captain, which must therefore have been improperly +obtained; and other circumstances led to the belief, that she was +Tripoline property and manned by Tripolines, although commanded by a +Tunisian subject. She was of course condemned, and sent with her +prizes to the United States. + +The rage of the Bey on being informed of this seizure was violent and +unrestrained; he insisted that the Consul should cause the vessels to +be immediately restored, and ample satisfaction to be made for the +injury and insult committed against him and his subjects. Mr. Davis +replied, that having no power himself, he could only state the demand +to the Commodore, but he had no expectation that it would be complied +with. The Bey, according to the usual policy of the Barbary Princes, +would not admit of this reference to an authority over which he could +have no control or influence; and endeavored by threats of war and of +personal violence, to extort from the Consul a promise that the +vessels should be restored, in order that he might afterwards allege +such promise, as the solemn act of the American government. Davis +however remained firm, and transmitted a statement of the whole affair +to Mr. Lear, which reached him off Tripoli, immediately after the +conclusion of the peace with Yusuf. + +In consequence of this communication, the Commodore wrote a letter to +Hamouda, declaring his demands inadmissible, and despatched a frigate +and a brig to watch his movements. This letter increased the rage of +the Bey; he told the Consul that negotiation was impossible; that he +would be forced into a war by the conduct of the Americans, who had +been the first to capture one of his cruisers in time of peace; and +that if hostilities should commence, they would not end while he had a +soldier to fire a gun. After such indications of his disposition, +Rodgers considered that no time was to be lost, he accordingly sailed +for Tunis, and arrived in the gulf on the 1st of August; his force +then amounted to five frigates, two brigs, a sloop of war, two +schooners, and several gun-boats. + +A letter was immediately despatched to the Bey, requiring an +explanation of his intentions, and stating that unless he declared +them to be friendly within thirty-six hours, hostilities would be +commenced against him. To this demand Hamouda evaded giving a direct +answer; he informed the Consul that he had no wish to make war, until +he had heard from the President of the United States respecting his +vessels which had been captured; but that in the meantime, any attempt +on the part of the Americans to stop his cruisers, or to interrupt his +commerce, would be considered by him as a commencement of hostilities. +The Commodore knew too well the worthlesness of such verbal +assurances; and determined to have some stronger guaranty for their +performance. He therefore despatched Captain Stephen Decatur, who then +commanded the frigate Congress, to Tunis, with a letter requiring of +the Bey a written declaration of his pacific intentions, to be +witnessed by the English and French Consuls. Hamouda refused to see +Decatur, and showed so little disposition to come to terms, that the +Consul retired with his family on board the squadron. + +Shortly after this, a Tunisian vessel attempting to put to sea, was +fired on by the Americans, and forced to return into port. This +circumstance created great consternation in Tunis; business was +suspended, the people became dissatisfied, and the Bey discovered that +he must yield. He in consequence wrote a letter to Rodgers, disavowing +his threats, declaring his willingness to remain at peace, and +inviting Mr. Lear, with whom he had hitherto refused to communicate, +to come on shore and treat with him on the subject of the existing +difficulties. Mr. Lear complied with this invitation, and several +conferences were held, in which the African Prince sustained his +character for shrewdness, exhibiting however a degree of suavity and +apparent frankness, which excited the admiration of the American +Commissioner. Supported by the oaths and attestations of his worthy +minister the Sapatapa, Hamouda gravely and solemnly denied having ever +uttered threats of hostilities against the United States, or of +violence towards their Consul, or of having made any unreasonable +demands; insisting that all the difficulties had been occasioned by +Mr. Davis, whom he indeed believed to be a good man, incapable of any +wilful misrepresentation, but who had most strangely interpreted some +of his expressions in a sense totally different from that intended, +and forgotten others. He had indeed asked for a frigate from the +United States; but that was a request such as one friend might make of +another, and the refusal of which should give rise to no difference +between them. The subject of blockades he could not understand; his +vessels had been taken in time of peace, and he would send an +Ambassador to the United States to demand their restitution, although +he would prefer having that business settled on the spot; in the +meantime, he was ready to give the strongest guaranties of his pacific +intentions. Nothing more could be demanded. A new Consul was presented +in place of Mr. Davis, who refused to return; and the frigate Congress +having been sent to the United States, to convey the Ambassador Sidi +Soliman Melle-Melle, the rest of the squadron quitted the Gulf of +Tunis about the 1st of September. + +The Tunisian Ambassador arrived with his retinue at Washington, where +he excited great curiosity and attention.[1] He soon made a formal +demand, in his master's name, for the restoration of the vessels, or +their value, which was complied with from a desire to conciliate the +Bey; but this compliance encouraged the Ambassador to require a supply +of naval stores, as the price of peace for the succeeding three years, +which having been positively refused, he quitted the United States +without retracting the demand. His master however was at that time +engaged in a war with Algiers, and did not think proper to proceed +farther in his exactions; and although attempts were afterwards made +by him and his successor to force the Americans to pay tribute, they +proved always unsuccessful, and no actual interruption of peace +between the United States and Tunis has occurred since the termination +of the difference above stated. + +[Footnote 1: Melle-Melle is still remembered in Washington, where his +dresses, his presents, his prayers, his Arabian horses, his refusing +to eat from sunrise to sunset during a particular time of the year, +(the Ramadan or Mahometan Lent,) and other of his Oriental customs and +peculiarities, form the subjects of many anecdotes. Among his +attendants was a passionate fellow named Hadji Mohammed, who having +had a quarrel with a barber in the city, threatened to kill him. The +barber complained to Mr. Madison, then Secretary of State, who sent +Mr. B----, a highly respected gentleman of his Department, to call on +Melle-Melle, and request him to curb the impetuosity of his follower. +The Ambassador received Mr. B---- with the usual Oriental forms of +politeness, and having heard the complaint, said a few words in Arabic +to one of his attendants, who went out, and presently re-appeared with +poor Hadji Mohammed, guarded by four men with drawn swords. This +apparition somewhat astounded Mr. B----, who is the most mild and +amiable of men; and he was still more shocked when Melle-Melle, in the +most courteous manner expressing his desire to do all in his power to +please the American government, offered to have the culprit's head +taken off immediately, and sent to the Secretary of State, unless he +or the President might prefer seeing it done themselves. Mr. B---- of +course declined such a demonstration of the Ambassador's good feeling +toward the United States, and hastened to assure him that no such mode +of reparation was demanded; it being only necessary to enjoin upon his +attendant to refrain from any acts of violence. This fact was related +to the writer by Mr. B---- himself.] + +From Tunis the American squadron proceeded to Algiers, where Mr. Lear +landed, and was received with great respect by the government. At this +time it would doubtless have been easy to have relieved the United +States from the annual tribute of naval stores and munitions to the +value of twenty-one thousand dollars, which they were bound to pay to +that Regency by the treaty of 1795; but the Algerines had not +committed any notable infraction of the terms of that treaty, and +there was no cause of quarrel. In 1807 the government of the United +States, in anticipation of an immediate war with Great Britain, +recalled its naval forces from the Mediterranean, which sea was not +again visited by an American armed vessel until 1815. The peace with +Tripoli and Tunis has, however, continued without any absolute +interruption to this time; with Algiers it was broken in 1812, when +the Dey, emboldened by the absence of the American ships of war, and +instigated, as we shall show, by the British government, thought +proper to commence hostilities against the United States, for which a +signal retribution was exacted in 1815. + +The occurrences of the war between Tunis and Algiers would be devoid +of interest, however faithfully related. Algiers had long maintained a +degree of arrogant influence over Tunis, which was very galling to the +sovereigns of the latter country. This was effected partly by +superiority in military and naval forces, partly by the aid of the +Ottoman Porte, which very naturally sided with Algiers against a state +scarcely acknowledging its dependance on the Sultan, but principally +by bribes to the high officers of the Tunisian government. To free his +kingdom from this nightmare had been the incessant endeavor of +Hamouda, and was the object of the war; its results were favorable to +the Tunisians, both at sea and on land; peace was made in September, +1808, and the influence of Algiers appears never since to have been +felt in the councils of Tunis. + +From 1807 to 1815, the Mediterranean was navigated by few vessels +except those of Great Britain, which were forbidden fruit to the +Barbary cruisers; almost their only prey being the miserable +inhabitants of Sicily, Sardinia, and even of the Greek Islands, +although the latter were subject to the Sultan. One circumstance here +shows that the government of Great Britain still cherished the system +of encouraging piracy in the Mediterranean, as a means of excluding +other nations from its commerce. Sicily remained during the whole of +the period above mentioned, absolutely in possession of the British, +the authority of the king being nearly nominal. Yet, although its +vessels were daily attacked, and its inhabitants carried off from the +coasts to slavery in Africa, a truce negotiated with Algiers in 1810, +and an occasional remonstrance to the other two powers, which was +never attended to, were the only measures adopted to remedy the evil, +by those who styled themselves the protectors of the island. To the +honor of the Americans, it can be said with truth, that in their +Consuls the unhappy captives found friends, and that through the +active intercession of these agents, many of them were restored to +their homes. + +The Pasha of Tripoli, as soon as he was relieved from the presence of +the American forces, began with great industry to restore tranquillity +in his dominions, and to repair his finances which had been exhausted +by the war. As he was almost shut out from the sea, he resolved to +establish and extend his authority on land. The fixed population of +this regency is small, and almost entirely confined to the few fertile +spots on the coast; the interior being principally desert or +mountainous, is inhabited by Arabs, who wander with their flocks from +pasture to pasture, or are engaged in the transportation of +merchandize, or live by plundering their more industrious neighbors. +The allegiance of these wanderers is always doubtful; the revenue +derived from taxing them is small, and is never obtained without +considerable difficulty. Whenever the Pasha is known to be in trouble +at home, they become refractory, refuse to pay their tribute, and +attack the caravans or towns on the coast; seldom indeed does a year +pass in which the sovereign of Tripoli is not engaged in war with some +of their tribes. Of these tribes, one called the Waled Suleiman had +long been formidable for its numbers and its rebellious disposition; +under a daring and sagacious chief the Sheik Safanissa, it had set at +defiance the power of the Pasha, and had frequently pushed its inroads +to the gates of the capital. Safanissa at length died; although his +descendants were brave and trained to war, and his tribe continued to +be powerful and influential, yet the magic of his presence was +wanting, to maintain that supremacy which it had so long boasted. +Yusuf saw this, and determined if possible to exterminate these +insolent foes. He began by gaining over to his side another powerful +tribe called the Waled Magarra, the hereditary rivals and enemies of +the Suleimans; and when he had sufficiently secured their fidelity, he +struck a blow which proved perfectly successful, and by which he +gained another object long considered important by the sovereigns of +Tripoli. + +In the Desert south of this regency, is a large tract of habitable +country called Fezzan. The greater part of its surface is indeed a +sterile waste of sand, but there are many small spots containing clay +enough to render them capable of producing dates and some other +articles for the support of men and beasts. The labor of cultivation +is however very great, as it seldom or never rains, and there being +neither springs nor rivers, the water necessary for moistening the +earth can only be procured from wells. Almost the only articles of +export are dates and salt, which latter is procured in great +quantities from the borders of stagnant pools, and carried to the +coast of the Mediterranean, and to the negro countries south of the +desert. It is inhabited principally by a black race, differing in +feature however from the negroes; there are also many Arabs and some +Moors, making in all perhaps seventy thousand of the poorest and most +miserable of the human species. The sovereignty had long been +hereditary in a family originally from Morocco, which acknowledged its +dependance on Tripoli; but the Sultan of Fezzan, like the Arabs, +seldom paid his tribute when he could avoid it; and the expense of +collecting, had indeed of late years, amounted to more than the sum +obtained. Such a territory and such inhabitants would scarcely seem to +offer any inducements to conquest; but the position of Fezzan renders +it important to Tripoli, as through it passes the principal route from +the coast to the interior of the continent; and Yusuf was well assured +that the Sultan obtained a large revenue by exactions from his +subjects, and from the numerous caravans which traversed his +dominions. He was therefore anxious to have his share, and was the +more enraged at the insolence of this Prince in withholding it, as he +was supported and encouraged in so doing by an alliance with the Waled +Suleiman. At length in 1811, Yusuf seized a moment when the Suleimans +were absent on a foray in the Egyptian territory, and sent an army of +Tripolines and Magarra Arabs to Fezzan, under one of his most attached +and experienced generals, named Mahomet el Mukni, who was well +acquainted with the country, from having visited it several times to +receive the tribute. These troops rapidly passed the Gharian +mountains, which separate Tripoli from Fezzan, and appeared +unexpectedly before Morzouk, the capital of the latter kingdom; this +town, built of mud, and defended only by a wall and castle of the same +material, was easily taken, the Sultan and his family, with many of +the principal inhabitants, were put to death, the rest submitted to +the invaders, and the whole country was soon in their possession. The +neighboring Arabs overawed by this success, flocked to Mukni's +standard, and having received a reinforcement of Tripoline troops, he +marched to intercept the Waled Suleimans on their return from Egypt; +they were met, defeated, and almost exterminated. Abdi Zaleel, one of +the grandsons of Safanissa, was made prisoner, and retained for some +time by the Pasha as a hostage for the fidelity of the few whose lives +were spared. As a reward for the generalship displayed by Mukni, Yusuf +appointed him Governor of Fezzan, with the title of Sultan while in +that territory; he was required however, to transmit a large amount of +tribute, and also to make an annual inroad into the negro countries +lying south of the Desert, for the purpose of bringing away slaves, +who were afterwards sent to Tripoli, and thence to the markets of +Smyrna and Constantinople. + +By these means the power of the Pasha was much strengthened, and his +revenues increased; but his sons grew up to manhood, and he began to +receive from them the same ungrateful treatment which he had displayed +towards his own father. His eldest, Mohammed, who as heir to the +crown, bore the title of Bey, and commanded the troops, is universally +represented as one of the most complete monsters which even Africa has +produced. He first excited the jealousy of his father in 1816, by the +purchase of a large number of muskets, which were probably intended +for the purpose of arming his followers and dethroning the Pasha; for +this he was ordered to go to Bengazi, and there take the command of +some troops destined to act against a tribe of refractory Arabs. In +this expedition he was entirely successful; that is to say, he +exterminated the rebellious tribes, laid waste the country which they +had infested, and sent a number of heads, of both friends and enemies, +to adorn the gates of his father's castle. On his return to Tripoli, +he probably considered these eminent services as entitling him to the +immediate possession of the throne, and with that view he made an +attempt on Yusuf's life; it failed, and he was again sent to the +Eastern Provinces, to act against another tribe who had refused to pay +tribute. Mohammed however, immediately on his arrival, joined the +rebels, and plundered the country which he was ordered to defend. +Yusuf was therefore obliged to send an army against him under his +second son Ahmed, who dispersed his brother's forces and drove him +into Egypt. The instances of treachery and cruelty practised on each +side during this war, are too shocking to be related. The principal +inhabitants of whole towns were murdered; hostages were beheaded at +the moment stipulated for their return; promises of pardon confirmed +by appeals to the common faith of both parties were shamelessly +broken, and those who trusted to them sacrificed in cold blood. The +result of the whole was the promotion of Ahmed to the situation of +Bey, and the establishment of the rebellious Mohammed as Governor of +Derne. + +Notwithstanding these proofs of Yusuf's perfidy and ferocity, he +became popular with Europeans; and those who were introduced to him, +generally came away favorably impressed with regard to his character, +and were inclined to attribute his excesses more to his situation than +to his disposition. He spoke Italian fluently, and seemed to be well +acquainted with what was going on in the world: his court was +splendid; his apartments furnished with elegance and taste; he drank +the best champaigne which France produced, and his manners are said to +have been such as to entitle him to be considered a gentleman any +where. The celebrated Portuguese, Badia Castilho, whose travels and +adventures under the name of Ali Bey, are so well known, seems to have +been charmed by the frankness and amenity of the Pasha of Tripoli. +Captain Beechy, who was sent by the British Admiralty in 1822, to +survey the shores of the great Syrtis, speaks with gratitude of the +readiness with which facilities were afforded him for the prosecution +of the work. Lyon, Denham and Clapperton, although they all +experienced many vexations in their journey through the Tripoline +dominions, yet seemed to ascribe them rather to the malignity and +knavery of the officers of the government, than to any ill intentions +on the part of the chief. To those who were not his subjects, the +"good old-gentlemanly vice" of avarice seems to have been his +principal failing. His own habits were expensive, and his sons, by +their prodigality, kept his coffers always empty. + +To the American officers and Consuls, he has been most scrupulously +attentive, and has several times shewn his anxiety to prevent any +difficulties from arising with the government of the United States. On +all public occasions, there has been a struggle for precedence between +the British and French Consuls; those of other European nations not +venturing to advance any claims for themselves. The United States have +been fortunately represented in Tripoli by determined men, who, while +they ridiculed the etiquette in the abstract, determined to admit no +inferiority in a country where it was considered as essentially +important; they have therefore uniformly maintained their rights, the +Pasha shewing a disposition to aid them as far as he could. + +A serious affair, however, occurred in September, 1818, which was very +near producing a rupture between Tripoli and the United States. Mr. R. +B. Jones, the American Consul, while on a shooting excursion in the +vicinity of the city, was attacked by two negroes, and beaten. The +negroes were discovered to be the slaves of Morat Rais the Admiral, +and there was reason to believe that they had been set on by the +Scotch renegade, who always remained the bitter enemy of the United +States. Investigations were made, by the results of which this +suspicion was confirmed, and Morat finding himself in danger, sought +an asylum in the British Consulate. Mr. Jones demanded the public +punishment of the slaves, and the banishment of the Admiral from the +Regency, during the pleasure of the President of the United States. +Yusuf made every endeavor to evade the latter, offering instead to +bastinado the slaves as long as Mr. Jones might please, or to strike +off their heads if that were required. He urged that the British +Consul was entitled to protect all fugitives, by the immemorial custom +of the place, and that to drag him from his asylum would be to involve +Tripoli in a war with Great Britain. The British Consul, on his part, +insisted that Morat was a subject of Great Britain, and as such, +liable only to be tried by him. Mr. Jones refused to listen to any of +these representations, and was preparing to leave the place with his +family, when Yusuf yielded. The slaves were publicly bastinadoed, and +their master banished from Tripoli for life. Three years after, +however, Mr. Jones was induced by the representations of the Pasha, to +request that the President would permit him to return, which was in +consequence granted. + +Many changes had in the mean time taken place in Tunis. In the month +of September, 1813, Hamouda Bey, while taking a cup of coffee, after a +long day's fast in the Ramadan, fell down and expired. It has been +already stated, that he was not the rightful heir to the throne, +according to the European laws of succession, for Mahmoud and Ismael, +the sons of Mahmed an elder brother of his father, were still alive, +retained as state prisoners in the palace. On the death of Hamouda, +his brother Othman assumed the crown, and held it for nearly two +years; but he had a powerful enemy in the Sapatapa Sidi Yusuf, who was +anxious to govern himself, and considered that the aged Mahmoud would +be a more convenient representative of royalty. The troops were +accordingly corrupted, and on the 19th of January, 1815, Othman was +murdered by the hand of Mahmoud himself, who, having also despatched +Othman's two sons, assumed the title and power of Bey, without +opposition. The Sapatapa, the contriver of this last revolution, soon +received the just reward of his villainy: he was anxious to enjoy the +title, as well as the power of a sovereign of Tunis, and prepared to +dispose of Mahmoud and his family. His plans were, however, revealed, +and on the night on which they were to have been executed, he was +himself murdered as he was retiring to his apartment in the palace of +Bardo, after having spent the evening in business with the Bey, and in +playing chess with his eldest son Hassan. His immense property was +confiscated, and his body was dragged by the infuriated populace +through the streets, with every mark of indignity. Mahmoud held the +throne without any serious difficulty until his death, in 1824. His +brother Ismael had no children, and was not a person likely to give +him any apprehension. He is represented as having been a merry +inoffensive old gentleman, fond of punning, a great lover and judge of +wine which he called vinegar, out of respect for the Koran, and an +inveterate newspaper politician. It is difficult to imagine an African +Prince of this character. On the death of Mahmoud, his eldest son, +Hassan, succeeded, who is the present Bey. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO MARGUERITE. + + + Where is my friend? I languish here-- + Where is my own sweet friend? + With all those looks of love so dear, + Where grace and beauty blend! + + I miss those social _winter_ hours + With her I used to spend, + Now cheerless are my _summer bowers_-- + Where is my own lov'd friend? + + Our sweetest joys, like flowers may rise, + And all their fragrance lend, + Yet my sick heart within me dies-- + Where is my own sweet friend? + + The winding brooks, like distant lute, + Their murmuring whispers send; + The echoes of my soul are mute-- + Where is my own dear _friend_? + +M. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO ANN. + + + I will not cross thy path again + While Earth shall stand or Ocean roll, + For thou hast rent the bond in twain + That fetter'd long my struggling soul. + + For me the world no more can bring + A smile to love, a frown to fear; + The bird that soars on wildest wing, + Hath stronger ties to chain him here. + + To-morrow's sun shall sink to me + Beneath lone ocean's caverns deep-- + To-morrow's sun shall glide from thee, + Behind yon forest's waving sweep. + + And thou shalt mark his farewell beams + O'er lov'd familiar objects play; + But will they rouse the fairy dreams + That once endear'd the close of day? + + I shall not heed, in climes afar, + Thy name--'twill be a sound unheard, + And time and distance doubly mar + The fitful dream that thou hast stirr'd. + + I shall not long remember thee, + Mid' prouder schemes and objects strange; + Thy scorn hath set the captive free, + And boundless now shall be his range. + + And while a sunder'd path shall own + My bosom now, as cold as thine, + To me thy doom shall rest unknown, + As thou shalt nothing know of mine. + + If o'er thee pale disease should creep + And mark thee for an early grave,-- + No mourning voice shall cross the deep, + No tear shall swell the eastern wave. + + If long and blest thy life should be, + And fall like leaves when frost is come,-- + Unconscious all, the sullen sea + Will bear no echo from thy tomb. + + Unknown must be thy smiles or tears: + Yet sometimes, at the farewell hour, + The book of fate unclasp'd appears, + And half imparts a prophet's power. + + Try to forget! The time may be + When Fancy shall withhold her sway, + And blissful dreams no more for thee + Shall sport in sunset's golden ray. + + Try to forget! Thy calm of pride + May sink to waveless, waste despair, + Like her whose homeward glance descried + Heaven's shower of flame descending there. + + Try to forget! Thy peace of mind + May change to passion's blasting storm; + When spirits of the past unbind + The shroud from Pleasure's faded form. + + Pray to forget! When chill disdain + Shall haply tell that love is fled, + And thou shalt gaze, but gaze in vain, + On eyes where Passion's light is dead; + + Then turn thee not to former days-- + Remember not this hour of pride + That banish'd one, who but to raise, + To shield, to bless thee, would have died. + + The shaft that flies from Sorrow's bow + When Fate would sternest wrath employ, + Is far less steel'd with present woe + Than poison'd with remember'd joy. + +_Norfolk, September 13, 1834_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +MY NATIVE LAND. + +BY LUCY T. JOHNSON. + + + I return'd to my own native land, + And I sought for the spot I had loved, + Where the rose and the lily had bloom'd 'neath my hand, + And my footsteps in childhood had roved. + + I saw--but I wept at the change + Long years had thrown over the scene;-- + It was there--but the desert's wild, desolate range + Was mark'd "where the garden had been." + + I look'd for the cottage of white, + As it stood half conceal'd, half disclosed, + By the rose tree and vine which encircled it quite, + Near the sod where my fathers reposed. + + It was gone--but the chimney was there, + The sad relic of long vanish'd years; + And the thorn and the brier now embraced, or were near, + Where my kindred had buried their cares. + + I look'd for the valley and stream, + Where the bower and grove intertwined; + Where the wild hunter boy oft indulged in his dream + Of delights he was never to find. + + The valley and stream--they were there, + But the shade of the green wood had pass'd; + The stream was a wild where the serpent might _lair_, + In that vale's ever shadowless waste. + + I look'd for the mountain and hill, + Where the hunter delighted to stray, + And where at the twilight, the lone whippoorwill + Had pour'd forth his anchorite lay. + + They were there--but the hunter was gone, + And the sound of his bugle was hush'd; + And the torrent was there--but the light-footed fawn + Drank not at its fount as it rush'd. + + I look'd for the friends I lov'd best; + The friends of my earliest choice; + They had gone to that bourne where the dead are at rest, + Or cold was each care-stricken voice. + + The living were there--but were chill'd + By the imprint of age and its cares; + They met me--just met me--and heartlessly smiled, + For their friendship had fled with their years. + + Adieu to thee--"land of the leal," + Fair land of the blue-vaulted sky; + Tho' I go--yet the heart thus inspired to feel, + Shall remember thee oft with a sigh. + +_Elfin Moor, Va. January 14, 1835_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO MY CHILD. + +BY PERTINAX PLACID. + + + Why gazest thou, my eldest born, my best beloved boy, + Upon thy father's clouded brow, as if it marr'd thy joy-- + As If it chill'd thy little heart, such sadden'd looks to see, + And gave a mournful presage of thy own dark destiny?-- + Why dost thou stop thy frolic play, and with inquiring eye, + Looking up into my thoughtful face, breathe something like a sigh? + Thy little hand upon my knee, thy neck thrown gently back, + And thine offer'd kiss, to tempt my tho'ts from their dark and + dreary track. + Yes, that childish kiss can win me back to momentary peace, + And thy soft embrace can bid awhile my bosom's sadness cease-- + For in my spirit's wanderings, when the past with pain I tread, + Or pry into the future with mingled hope and dread, + Still thou, my child, in all my tho'ts, sad tho' they be, hast part, + And of thy after-life I muse, with a father's anxious heart. + Even now thou smilest winningly, to bid me smile again, + And thy looks of joy and innocence revive the heart, as rain + Revives the drooping, wither'd flower, in Autumn's chilly day, + When winds and storms its summer leaves, one by one have rent away. + Oh many a sad and heavy hour my heart has felt for thee, + And many a prayer my lips have breath'd that heaven thy guide may + be, + Throughout the giddy maze of life, and from sorrow keep thee free. + Not from those griefs that all must feel, who tread this path of + care, + And that weigh on every bosom doom'd the fate of man to bear-- + But from the deep regret I feel for many a wasted hour, + And from the gnawing of remorse, unbridled passion's dower: + That thou may'st early learn to check thy fancy's treacherous glow, + Nor paint too fair the face of things, the dark reverse to know-- + Nor, fed by Hope, too long believed, when she has taken wing, + Look round thee on the human face as on a hated thing. + Oh never may'st thou deem the world what it has seem'd to me, + The field of strife where Virtue falls 'neath fraud and treachery: + And may'st thou by no sad reverse, man's darker passions know, + Nor prove, when fortunes change, that _friends_ can deal the + heaviest blow, + That he who shared thy inmost soul, may prove thy deadliest foe. + Even now, upon thy gentle face, too plainly I behold + The impress of thy future life--thy destiny foretold. + That noble brow, so fearless, that eye so bold and free, + Bespeak a soul undim'd by aught of wrong or perfidy-- + The dreaming pauses 'midst thy play, as if of sudden thought, + The speaking glances of thine eye, when with hope and gladness + fraught-- + These tell a tale of after times, when I no more shall guide + The wand'rings of thy youthful feet, or lead thee by my side-- + When the fondness of a father's love thou never more canst know, + And I shall in an early grave sleep tranquilly and low. + That eager glance, that buoyant step, that shout so full of glee, + Tell me that thou in manhood's throngs wilt bear thee manfully-- + That thou wilt trust to those who swear, in love or friendship, + truth, + And mourn, like me, the illusion o'er, the errors of thy youth. + Then be it so--speed on thy race, thro' sunshine and thro' shade: + Fair be thy young imaginings--for ah, they all must fade-- + And may'st thou, when the visions pass, that o'er thy slumbers bend, + When life grows dark, and hearts grow cold, find thou hast still a + friend, + Whose faith the terrors cannot shake of life's most stormy hour, + True to the last, be fortune thine, or when misfortune lower. + But still, should keen adversity, rend every human tie, + Bear thy proud soul above the wreck, the tempest's rage defy. + Look on my face again, fair boy, the clouds have passed away-- + I trust thee to that _better guide_, who checks us when we stray. + And if the thorn must wound us still, whene'er we pluck the rose, + His wisdom, which inflicts, can teach to bear life's many woes. + Come then, and kiss thy father, boy,--his brow no more is dark; + Smile once again, pursue thy play, and carol like the lark. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO ----. + + + Thou _arch_ magician! [emphasise the arch! + I would not--for an office--have it said + That I apostrophized another]--march + Where'er I will, thy strategy has spread + For me, alas! such ambuscades and toils, + I fear thou seek'st to add me to thy "spoils." + + 'Tis, by my holidame! no more a jest + To cope with thee, than him, whose subtle schemes + Cheat an enlightened people's greatest, best-- + While thou art tickling in their downy dreams, + Some half score maidens, putting them in mind + To play the devil--just as they're inclined. + + * * * * * + + With woman's eyes thou hast my heart assailed, + Yet I withstood them. Lips and teeth in vain + Coral and pearls outshone--form, features failed + To bind me captive in thy treacherous chain; + I know not why, but fancy some bright shield + Hath saved me scathless from the well fought field! + + * * * * * + + Perhaps it was her eyes--their flashing light + Must have reminded me of quenchless fire: + It may have been her teeth--their dazzling white + Might hint Tartaric snows than Andes higher, + Where shriek the damned from every frozen clime, + Warning poor tempted souls to flee from crime.[1] + + Perhaps her lips foretokened coals as red-- + Perhaps her faultlessness of form might tell + Of ruined Arch-angelic beauties, led + By Love or Pride's seduction, down to hell-- + But how 'twas possible I can't divine, + To look upon her foot and think of thine! + +[Footnote 1: A _hot_ region has no terrors for the Laplanders. None +but a very _cold_ place of punishment is adapted to their +imagination.] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LINES + +Written in an Album, on pages between which several leaves had been +cut out. + + + What leaves were these so rudely torn away? + Whose immortality thus roughly foiled? + What aphoristic dogs have had their day, + And of their hopes been suddenly despoiled? + + Whose leaf was this? and what the bay-wreath'd name + Which here its glowing fancies did rehearse? + What was the subject which it doomed to Fame? + Whose knife or scissors did that doom reverse? + + Here gallant knights, imagining the wings + Of the famed Pegasus sustained them, soaring, + Fiddled, thou false one! on their own heartstrings, + Whilst thou thy soul in laughter wert outpouring! + + A score of petty minstrels might have lain, + And, like the Abbey Sleepers, found good lying + In this brief space--but none, alas! remain, + Thou'st sent their ashes to the four winds flying! + + Behold my Muse, Colossus like, bestride + The fallen honors of each beau and lover-- + Ghosts of departed songs, that here have died, + How many of ye now do o'er me hover? + + Methought I heard ye then, as first ye threw + Your soft imaginings in dreamy numbers, + And o'er my soul the sweet enchantment flew + Like music faintly heard in midnight slumbers. + + * * * * * + + When whim, or chance, or spite, _my_ leaf shall tear, + Grant me in turn, ye fates! some gentle poet-- + One who shall lie with such a grace, you'd swear + That if indeed he lied, he did'nt know it! + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +A PRODIGIOUS NOSE. + + +MR. WHITE: Your facetious correspondent PERTINAX PLACID, seems so +deeply versed in what may be called _nasal music_, that I am very sure +he would have recorded, in his late communication, and in far better +style than mine, the history of a NOSE. Permit me, therefore, to +furnish him with a few "memorabilia," of this extraordinary +protuberance, (_nose_ it could not properly be called,) against his +next narrative of a nasal concert. + +It was the property of a Virginia gentleman, long since dead, who had +attained, at a very early age, the enormous weight of some seven or +eight and twenty stone. It had no resemblance to that of +Slawkenbergius--as delineated by Sterne--nor to Dan Jackson's, so +frequently and fondly described by Swift--nor to that of the sensual +Bardolph, so famous in dramatic annals, for the phosphorescent quality +of shining in the dark, ascribed to it by his friend Falstaff. In +short, such was its unique conformation, that it would have defied the +skill of Dr. Taliacotius himself, even with the choice of any part of +the human body, to manufacture any thing at all like it. Although it +approached more the bulbous kind of nose, than any other, and in +shape, strongly resembled the nose of the Hippopotamus, or river +horse, it was so disproportionately small, when contrasted with the +two tumuli of flesh between which it was deeply imbedded, that it was +quite invisible to any person taking a profile view of the face, which +seemed to be literally noseless. Add to this, the projection of an +upper lip of double the usual thickness, which so nearly closed the +two apertures through which the proprietor breathed, as to render it +perfectly manifest to all beholders, that to sleep in any other way +but with his mouth at least half open, was utterly impracticable. This +accordingly, was his invariable habit; and the consequences can be +much more easily imagined, (difficult as it was,) than described. To +relate every tale that I have heard of his snoring achievements, would +certainly bring into some suspicion the veracity of those from whom I +heard them. In tender regard, therefore, for their character, I will +repeat only two; but by these alone, both you and your readers may +judge pretty well of the rest. + +The first was, that on a memorable occasion, when his crater was in +full blast, his nasal explosions actually burst open a bran new door, +although the bolt of the lock was turned. At another time, it is +related of him, that arriving late at night at his favorite tavern in +Alexandria, he was conducted into a room, furnished with two beds, in +one of which was a little Frenchman, fast asleep, who had gone to rest +without any expectation of receiving a fellow lodger. Into the empty +bed the fat gentleman soon entered; and being a precious sleeper, he +remained but a few minutes awake. Much, however, and most startling +work was always to be done, before sound sleep ensued; for a prelude +was to be performed, which might aptly be compared to the fearful +sounds of a man in the agonies of death by strangulation, from the +rupture of a blood vessel. This being almost enough to awaken the +dead, we may readily suppose that the little Frenchman was instantly +aroused,--aroused too, in the utmost extremity of such terror as would +probably be caused in any one, at the idea of a murder being committed +in his room. This conviction flashed upon his mind, with all its +accompanying horror, at the moment he awoke. In the twinkling of an +eye, he sprang out of bed--not exactly "in puris naturalibus," but +certainly in a dress very unsuitable for company, and rushed headlong +down three flights of stairs, crying out at the top of his voice, +"murder! mon dieu! murder! murder!" As may well be imagined, this +produced a general rush of the lodgers from their apartments, and in +costume similar to his own.--The females were screaming in their +highest key--the men, in their far harsher tones, were roaring out, +"what's the matter? what's the matter?" while the little Frenchman +reiterated still more loudly his piteous cries of "murder! mon dieu! +murder! murder!" A scene of such indescribable confusion ensued, that +some time elapsed before the equally terrified tavern keeper, who had +joined the throng, had the least chance of unravelling the mystery. At +last, however, sufficient quiet was restored to enable him to +understand from the little Frenchman, why he had fled from his room +with such precipitation. An irrepressible burst of laughter had nearly +suffocated the poor landlord, before he could gain sufficient breath +to explain to his guests, that the whole cause of their dreadful +alarm, was nothing more than the fat gentleman's tuning and preluding +upon his nasal instrument, as was his invariable custom, preliminary +to the much deeper sleep that always followed; and which was indicated +by a combination of such unearthly sounds, that they might reasonably +thank their stars that the preparation they had received was no worse. + +DEMOCRITUS, JR. + + + + +SWIMMING. + + +Some of our readers will doubtless remember an allusion in the tale of +"The Doom" to an individual who performed the feat of swimming across +the James, at the falls above this city. A valuable correspondent, who +was the bold swimmer alluded to, writes us as follows: + +"I noticed the allusion in the Doom. The writer seems to compare my +swim with that of Lord Byron, whereas there can be no comparison +between them. Any swimmer 'in the falls' in my days, would have swum +the Hellespont, and thought nothing of the matter. I swam from +Ludlam's wharf to Warwick, (six miles,) in a hot June sun, against one +of the strongest tides ever known in the river. It would have been a +feat comparatively easy to swim twenty miles in still water. I would +not think much of attempting to swim the British Channel from Dover to +Calais." + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +"THE GRAVE OF FORGOTTEN GENIUS." + +BY AN UNDERGRADUATE. + + Anxious thought that wished + To go, yet whither knew not well to go, + Possessed his soul and held it still awhile: + He listened and heard from far the voice of fame, + Heard and was charmed, and deep and sudden vow + Of resolution made to be renowned, + And deeper vowed to keep his vow.--_Pollock_. + + +The summer of 18--, was the fourth which I had spent at C---- College, +and with it, ended my collegiate life. The scenes, which my long +residence there had made sacred to the memory, were now becoming still +more sacred as the time of my departure drew near. Every object, which +was at all associated with meeting-scenes and parting-adieus, had +become a magician's wand,--recalling the absent and the dead--towering +hopes, now buried in the tomb, and anguish, which, thus recalled, is +but the bliss which the dreamer enjoys, when he wakes and feels +himself secure from the precipice, from whose edge a moment before he +was plunging into a gulph below. No scene was to me so sacred as the +student's grave-yard; for in it, I often mourned over the woes and +ills of life, and almost unconsciously wished for a fate like the +young men's who slept in its repose. There were then only four +graves--three were side by side, having tomb-stones, epitaphed to the +memory of those whose ashes reposed beneath them. The fourth stood +alone--over it was a rude stone, on which was visible no tribute to +him, whose remains were there. His was a destiny which often made me +look upon the unlettered stone with the deepest sympathy. One only +thing seemed to be known of this grave--one tribute only did time pay +to his memory--for to the pilgrim who passed by and hastily inquired +"who sleeps there?" naught was ever replied but the simple, yet +eloquent elegy, "that is the '_Grave of the Forgotten Genius_.'" In +this unconscious elegy, there was that which made me look upon it, +almost as the grave of a brother. + +It was here that I often retired during the last days of my stay at +C---- College. Here I could enjoy an uninterrupted revery, and call +before me the spirits of the dead and weep o'er the destiny of +forgotten genius; yet, even then, I sometimes thought their fate the +happiest which could fall to the lot of man. Perhaps they have prayed +for the gift of oblivion. Perhaps they have wished not to be +remembered. Their last desire may have been, + + "Silent let me sink to earth + With no officious mourners near: + I would not mar one hour of mirth + Nor startle friendship with a tear." + +A few days before my departure from the college, I was walking +thoughtfully through the grove, which surrounded this little +grave-yard, when suddenly I beheld a stately figure, standing near the +unepitaphed grave. He stood for a moment--then approached the +gravestone--seemed to take something from it, and pressing his hand to +his forehead for a moment, look fixedly at the stone. He +arose--hastily left the grave and directed his course towards a little +village below. Here was a mystery! Is this a relative--a brother of +the "forgotten genius," who has at last come to pay a tribute to his +long neglected memory? I ran to the grave. Behold! the name of him who +had so long been forgotten! The mysterious stranger had discovered the +name of the being who was buried there, which had been almost covered +by the moss that had collected upon the stone, and which till then I +had never observed. + +At twilight I was again in the grove, and again saw the same figure +approach the grave. He stood over it, and I distinctly heard these +words, "hapless being! Would that I had been here to ease thy dying +agony. Yet 'tis well! I grieve not! Thy spirit is at rest." + +I did not hesitate, but immediately approached the stranger, who +seemed a little surprised, but by no means disconcerted. + +"Stranger," I said, "thou grievest not alone! Pardon me for intruding +upon thy grief. I wish only to add my sympathy to your anguish." + +"Thou'rt welcome!" said the stranger, "I thank thee for thy sympathy: +but tell me? Is the tale of him, who sleeps in that grave still +known?" + +"It is only known that he was once a student of C---- College, and +that his tomb has long been called the 'Grave of the Forgotten +Genius'" I replied. But the stranger seemed not to hear me--made no +answer and approached again to the grave, and by the light of the moon +which now shone brightly, read the name "Walter ----," exclaiming, +"yes 'tis my younger brother, who died fifteen years ago." "And were +none of his friends" I inquired, "at his side during his last +illness?" + +"Alas" said he, "his spirit was gone, ere the news reached them, that +he was sick!" and then after a short silence the stranger continued. +"But come with me to yonder village? I will there give you all the +information you want." I immediately gave my assent, and after the +stranger had again stood silently over the grave seemingly engaged in +supplicating the favor of heaven, we approached the village. We +entered the village inn,--the stranger left me for a moment, but soon +reentered the room in which he had left me, bearing in one hand a +small manuscript, and in the other a purse. "This manuscript" said he, +"will give you the tale of him, who is now known only as the Forgotten +Genius. This purse contains one hundred and fifty crowns, half of +which you must cause to be applied to the erection of a monument over +my brother's grave, and the other half to be deposited in the county +treasury, the interest to be applied to the cultivation of the grove +around the student's grave-yard." + +"It is now late" said the stranger, "my duty calls me one hundred +miles hence before to-morrow evening. I must rest a little, and +continue my journey." + +I then pressed the stranger's hand. Neither spoke. The tears flowed +down the stranger's cheeks, and I felt that I was parting from a +brother; without the least hope that I should ever see him again, I +retired to my room, but it was only to give vent to the excess of my +feelings. I continued walking through my apartment until dawn, and on +going out, was informed that the stranger had just set out on his +journey. I rushed to my room again, full of doubt and grief--opened +the manuscript which had been given to me by the stranger, and read as +follows:-- + + * * * * * + +Walter Dunlap was born in Chestatee Village, which is situated on one +of the tributary streams of the Tennessee river, and surrounded by +those beautiful vallies, so numerous on both sides of the Cumberland +mountains. His father had been the first, and was at his birth the +principal merchant in Chestatee Village. He was not wealthy, yet his +economy had enabled him to afford means for the education of his sons +at one of the first colleges in the east. The procurement of this had +been his whole ambition, and it may well be imagined, that any +evidences of talent and genius in his sons, would please him much. In +his infancy, Walter displayed in his slightest actions, a nobleness, a +generosity, and a dauntlessness which at once won the heart of his +father, and Walter had not been placed under the instruction of a +tutor more than six months, ere he was far in advance of those who had +spent years in the school-room. Already did the fathers and mothers of +Chestatee Village hold up Walter to their children as a model for +their imitation. He had not passed his twelfth year before he was sent +with an elder brother to a college three hundred miles distant from +his paternal home. + +We arrived at C---- College full of hope and expectation, for the +writer of this narrative was the next elder brother of Walter. We +looked only for that continual flow of spirits and sprightliness, +which the changing and novel scenes of our journey had excited, and +were therefore illy prepared to meet the rigid confinement and +discipline of a college-life. At first we sat out with ardor, and +Walter especially, seemed delighted with the prospect of pleasure +which lay before him. Yet the most ardent and ambitious, are not +always the most successful students. A sudden prospect of an +adventure, full of romance and chivalry, seldom fails to bewitch their +imagination, and those who before were first and most ardent in the +pursuit of knowledge, are often, by a single incident of mirth and +pleasure converted into ring-leaders of insubordination, unwilling to +reap the advantages of a liberal education, and constantly contriving +means of interrupting the peace of those around them. There were such +at C---- College, and it was not long ere Walter was ranked among the +most ungovernable members of the institution. Six months had not +elapsed, ere he was represented to his father, as one who was no +longer fit for the station he occupied, and was thus privately +dismissed. These were the circumstances: Walter and myself were placed +under the guardianship of a distant relative who was connected with +the institution, and he was to supply us with whatever money we +needed. The frequent applications which Walter had made to his +guardian at last caused a prompt refusal, which greatly displeased +Walter. He went to the apartment occupied by his guardian, and took +the sum for which he had applied. This act he did not attempt to +conceal, for he was not yet able to distinguish between right and +wrong,--so that it could not have entered into his mind that he was +then committing a crime, which was subject to the severest punishment. +His guardian, offended at the indignity which he thought had been +offered him, reported the child who was placed under his peculiar +protection, to the president of the college, for _theft_. Thus was the +thoughtless, the generous and noble Walter, beloved by all his +companions, implicated and deemed guilty of an act, among the basest +in the catalogue of crimes. This news might well astonish the too +confiding father of Walter. He was scarcely able to think, or to +speak, when he received the request which the faculty had made. It was +a journey of several days, yet this did not stop the weeping father, +who hastened to the college to examine in person the nature of the +offence. On his arrival, he too was convinced of the guilt of his son. +In vain did his youthful eloquence attempt to make a distinction +between taking that which was his own, and that which was another's. +His father's rigid justice could not comprehend the distinction, which +though incorrect, was perfectly natural. Well do I remember the sad +and woe-worn countenance of our parent. Never have I seen, during a +lapse of almost twenty year's observation, a father lament so bitterly +over the fate of his son. + +"My son," said he to me, as he was about to set out with Walter, to +leave me to solitude and tears, "act honorably for my sake," and as we +shook hands, tears came to relieve the agony which oppressed us. +Walter, too, who till now had been firm and unmoved, boldly informing +his companions of his situation and defending his actions, embraced me +tenderly, and then more than at any other time during my life, when my +feelings were only suggested by nature, did my heart respond to the +thrilling lines + + "The word that bids us sever, + It sounds not yet, no, no, no!" + +We parted! Months passed on and not a word from Walter. At last a +letter came from my father. It breathed still the same feelings and +anguish which he felt at our separation. "Walter," said he, "still +remains inexorable! He is ruined, and I am not able to control him. +You, my son, you alone can cheer my heart and recal me from the woe +which Waller has caused me." At the end of one year from the time I +had separated from my father, he informed me that he had just sent +Walter to live with an uncle, who resided on the Elk--a river whose +banks were then but thinly settled, where he hoped the retirement of +his situation and the good counsel of his uncle, would work a +reformation in the feelings and principles of Walter. + +"If this fail," he concluded, "I am at an end--my last hope is +destroyed and my heart is broken." More than two years had elapsed +since my departure for the college, and for the first time was I +summoned to my paternal home. I returned, and oh, how changed was the +scene! I had left my father's a house of constant happiness, but now +scarcely a smile was familiar to the face of a person in the family. +My father was absent in mind, and talked of forsaking business. I +remained two months, and used all my endeavors to recal his thoughts +to the objects around him, and in some measure succeeded. I again +returned to C---- College--where I remained two years longer, not +forgetting to write often to my father in such a style as to make him +forget that subject which weighed so heavily upon his spirits; nor did +I forget Walter, to whom I often wrote, although my letters were never +answered, and had reason to hope that they were not only agreeable to +him, but gladly received. The last year of my collegiate life ended! I +flew to my home, in obedience to the urgent request of my father, who +still spoke of the disgrace and ruin of Walter, who had just returned. +I was greeted with the sincerest joy--and Walter, as my father +informed me, wept for the first time since our separation four years +before, and I felt, that I had been restored to a long lost brother. +He, indeed, seemed to be suddenly wrested from the gloom which had so +long surrounded him, and we rambled over the hills, sacred to the +memory of school-boy sports, again mingled together in the society of +youthful friends, and were again as happy and as joyous, as we were, +ere we experienced the pestilential influence of a college. + +Immediately after my return home, my father entreated me to use every +means for the reformation of Walter, at the same time, evincing all +the bitterness of grief and despair. My whole object was now to gain +an ascendancy over the mind of Walter. We read together--talked and +laughed together--and indulged together those anticipations of the +future, so bright and enchanting to the minds of the young. Often did +his eye brighten at the suggestion of his future glory and greatness. +Thus, by slow but certain progress, did he allow himself to be dragged +from the despair and gloom by which he was surrounded. He read the +tales of the great and renowned, and again was fired with ambition +which prompted him to look for a name equal to theirs. Long had he +been accustomed to look upon himself as an offcast from society--as +one scorned and shunned by the good and the generous: for none had +encouraged him to hope even that the disgrace which had come so soon +to snatch him from the light of joy, and sink him to the depths of +despair could ever be forgotten. How many noble, ardent and ambitious +youths, have thus been driven to the night of woe and mental +desolation? How many have been urged to the extremity of human +depravity by the too rigid decree of a father's or a guardian's +justice? How many like Walter, have been driven before the gale of +prosperity, then suddenly abandoned, left scorched and desolate, as +the proud vessel which is cast upon the barren shore, and left to +moulder in the "winds and rains of heaven!" Yet there was one thing +which seemed to afford some ground for the hope that all was not lost. +For when we participated in the amusements of youth together, and he +again received such evidences of respect from those around him, that +he could not believe them insincere, and when he had forgotten his +hopeless destiny, there came over his spirit lucid intervals, in which +he explored the sublime philosophy of Locke and Paley, and became +master of all the descriptions and sentiments of Addison. As we +rambled one day in a solitary grove, Walter suddenly stopped, and +after a moment's silence, said in a firm but melancholy tone, "my +brother, the last four years of my life have been desolate, dreary +like--a solitary waste. Yet this was not my fault! I have been an +outcast--no human being sympathized with me--none trusted me--none +esteemed me--none would receive my company but the profligate and +abandoned, with whom I was taught to class myself ere I distinguished +between error and truth? Thou alone hast remained faithful, and I now +thank you for all your kindness and advice. I was exiled from my +paternal home, I returned heart-stricken and miserable, yet I received +no sympathy, until you came like an angel of mercy, to recal me to +light. May heaven----." Here his voice faltered, and a flood of tears +came to his relief. After a few moments he continued: "I have resolved +to return to C---- College and there retrieve the happiness, the honor +and character, which a youthful folly has taken from me. I thank you +for your tears of sympathy. You can participate in my feelings and do +justice to my motives." It was thus, in one of the most intensely +interesting conversations which I ever held, that Walter disclosed to +me the very purpose which I had prayed in all the fervor of +supplication he might resolve upon. I soon after made known his +feelings to his father, and soon, almost instantaneously, he again +left his paternal home to return to C---- College. He left us agitated +with doubt and the deepest anxiety for his success. He left us, warmed +with the admiration which his noble purpose could not fail to inspire, +but racked with that awful feeling of dread, which the uncertainty of +hope always occasions. Walter did not weep--he did not seem moved, and +yet there was that in his countenance which spoke eloquently of +feeling. And yet there were tears to hallow the memory of our +separation. A little brother, scarce able to realize the scene around +him, shed tears of childish sorrow--a sister, enthusiastic in her +affection for her brother shed tears--and a father too, whose locks +were whitened with grief, showed youthful sympathy at his son's +adieu--and I too, was not unmoved. + +Walter Dunlap is again at C---- College! The farewell scene, which had +convinced him how deeply the happiness of his relatives could be +affected by his success--the powerful sympathy which such an occasion +had displayed, at once establish him in his purpose. Fame, honor, and +usefulness, were the beacon-lights which illumined his path, and the +eternal gratitude of a sister--a brother--a heart-broken father, the +ministering spirits which cheered him amid the storms of passion and +misery, incident to the human heart. Kirke White was the model which +he set before his mind--because there was a sympathy to his mind +between their destinies, although White had never received a moral +blight, yet it was enough that they had both been pursued by the rigor +of fate. + +From the moment he entered the walls of the college, he began a rigid +discipline of the mind. What elevated Milton, he would ask, to an +equality with the gods? What gave to Newton a comprehension of the +mysteries of the universe, and to Franklin a power over the elements? +and then triumphantly answer, study--unceasing study. "If Socrates had +contented himself with only wishing and sighing to enter the field of +philosophical truth--if he had prayed, however fervently, could that +have sufficed to make him the Prince of Philosophers? Naught but the +deepest, unbroken thought could have made him sport familiarly with +the subtleties of philosophy, clothed as they then were, in all the +gloom of ancient mythology." So thought Walter Dunlap. Night after +night did he wear himself away by the intensity of his study and the +depth of his thought. A year had not passed, ere he had run through +much of the whole collegiate course--made himself master of the +ancient languages, and gained a prize in astronomical calculations. +Mind cannot conceive the joy which he felt at this success. The image +of a father, smiling with tenderness and approbation, blessing him +with the unbounded gratitude which a father only can feel, was ever +present to his mind. Who can measure the depth of his joy? Who can +count the sighs of anguish which these moments of joy now repayed? +Well might he say, in reference to his own life, + + "One moment may, with bliss repay + Unnumbered hours of pain." + +Yet he did not esteem his work yet ended--his purpose yet realized. +Innumerable difficulties, calling for energy to brave the prospect of +years of application, presented themselves. He resolved to banish from +his heart every image of despair, and if the attainment of glory and +usefulness required it, + + "To drink even to the very dregs + The bitterest cup that time could measure out, + And having done, look up and ask for more." + +He received no joy but in the action of mind--in converse with the +proudest philosophers of the world. If he was but allowed to walk with +Plato and Aristotle, in the grove of Academus, and listen to their +discourses he was content. And yet, philosopher as he was, he did not +wish to die unlamented, with no epitaph to his memory. How could he +remain in the world, and leave it, without having made one discovery +in science--established one truth which might benefit mankind--done +aught that could endear his name to posterity--caused one heart's +gratitude to follow him to the tomb? Such a thought was +sad--unutterable! It was thus he was hurried on in his mental +application, till at last it became far too incessant for the safety +of his life. He saw the consequence, yet could not stay the impetuous +workings of his own mind--now beyond his control. His last letter to +me, thus concluded, "since I cannot expect a long residence on this +earth, my only wish is, that I may have at least one kind friend who +will candidly inscribe upon my tomb, this simple epitaph, + + "Here lies a heart, that beat for fame." + +Soon after the reception of this letter, we were informed by the +president of C---- College, that Walter Dunlap had died suddenly, from +an inflammation of the lungs occasioned by an exposure to the air for +several hours, while observing the corruscations of the _Aurora +borealis_. + +Thus died Walter Dunlap--a child of sorrow--a being of the strongest +aspirations--possessing a genius which would have elevated him to a +rank with the profoundest philosophers--and wept by his companions +whose tears form his only funeral eulogy. + +His life may show the danger of exposing a child too early to the +contagion of a college--the folly of dealing too harshly with youthful +errors--the force of sympathy on the heart, and the elevation at which +a mind may instantly arrive. Farewell. + + * * * * * + +I will only add that the "student's grave yard" now contains a +monument over the tomb of the Forgotten Genius, and that in compliance +with my promise, I caused to be inscribed to the memory of Walter +Dunlap, the eloquent epitaph contained in his last letter to his +brother, so justly due to the actions of his short life. + +_West Point, 18th April, 1835_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THE HOUSE MOUNTAIN IN VIRGINIA. + + +This double mountain forms a conspicuous object in the romantic county +of Rockbridge. It stands seven miles west of Lexington, from whose +inhabitants it hides the setting sun, and not unfrequently turns the +summer showers. Being separated from the neighboring ridge of the +North mountain, and more lofty, it presents its huge body and sharp +angles full to the western winds. Clouds are often driven against it, +cloven asunder, and carried streaming on to the right and left with a +space of clear sky between, similar in form to the evening shadow of +the mountain. + +Sometimes however, a division of the cloud after passing the town, +will come bounding back in a current of air, reflected from another +mountain. It is not uncommon to see a cloud move across the great +valley in Rockbridge, shedding its contents by the way--strike the +Blue Ridge on the south eastern side, wheel about and pursue a +different course until it is exhausted. The traveller, after the +shower is over, and the clear sunshine has induced him to put off his +cloak and umbrella, is surprised by the sudden return of the rain from +the same quarter towards which he had just seen it pass away. + +What is called the House Mountain, consists in fact, of two oblong +parallel mountains, connected at the base, and rising about 1500 feet +above the common level of the valley. The summits which are about a +mile and a half long, resemble the roof of a house; the ends terminate +in abrupt precipices; and round the base, huge buttresses taper up +against the sides, as if designed to prop the mighty structure. The +students of Washington College make a party every summer to visit this +mountain for the sake of the prospect. They set out in clear weather +and spend the night on the mountain in order to enjoy the morning +beauties of the scene, which are by far the most interesting. Having +twice been of such a party, the writer gives the following +description, from a memory so deeply impressed by what he saw, that +years have scarcely abated the vividness of its ideas. + +The first time, we were disappointed by the cloudiness of the +atmosphere, and should have made an unprofitable trip, had not an +unexpected scene afforded us a partial reward for the toils of the +ascent. We lodged like Indian hunters not far from the summit, where a +little spring trickles from the foot of the precipice. After we had +slept awhile, one of the company startled us with the cry of _fire!_ +He saw with astonishment in the direction of the Blue Ridge, a +conflagration that cast a lurid glare through the hazy atmosphere. The +flame rose and spread, every moment tapering upwards to a point, and +bending before the night breeze. We first imagined that a large barn +was on fire, and then as the flame grew, that the beautiful village of +Lexington was a prey to the devouring element. While we gazed with +fearful anxiety, the fiery object in rising yet higher, seemed to grow +less at the lower extremity, until it stood forth to our joyful +surprise, the MOON half full, reddened and magnified by the misty air +beyond what we had ever seen. Its light afforded an obscure perception +of the most prominent objects of the landscape. Shadowy masses of +mountains darkened the sight in various directions, and spots less +dark in the country below, gave indications of fields and houses. We +perceived just enough to make us eager for a more distinct and general +view of the scene. In the morning, every thing was hidden by the +cloudy confusion of the atmosphere. + +The next time, our party lodged on the aerial summit of the mountain, +by a fire of logs, which might have served the country for a beacon. +The weather proved favorable, and we rose before the dawn to enjoy the +opening scene. The sky was perfectly serene, but all the world below +was enveloped in darkness and fog. Our fire had sunk to embers. The +gloom, the desolation, the deathlike stillness of our situation, +filled every mind with silent awe, and prepared us for solemn +contemplation. We spoke little, and felt disposed to solitary musing. +I retired alone to a naked rock which raised its head over a +precipice, turned my face to the east, and waited for the rising sun, +if not with the idolatrous devotion, yet with the deep solemnity of +the Persian Magii. Presently the dawn began to show the dim outline of +the Blue Ridge along the eastern horizon, at the distance of twelve or +fifteen miles. When the morning light opened the prospect more +distinctly, the level surface of the mist which covered the valley +became apparent; and the mountain tops in almost every direction, +looked like islands in a white, placid, and silent ocean. I gazed with +delighted imagination over this novel and fairy scene; so full of +sublimity in itself, and from the sober twilight in which it appeared, +so much like the work of fancy in visions of a dream. The trees and +rocks of the nearest islands soon became visible; more distant islands +were disclosed to view, but all were wild and desolate. I felt as if +placed in a vast solitude, with lands and seas around me hitherto +undiscovered by man. + +Whilst I gazed with increasing admiration over the twilight scene, and +endeavored to stretch my vision into the dusky regions far away, my +attention was suddenly arrested by sparks of dazzling brilliancy which +shot through the pines on the Blue Ridge. In the olden time, when +Jupiter's thunderbolts were manufactured in the caverns of Ætna, never +did such glittering scintillations fly from under the forge hammers of +Cyclops. It was the sun darting his topmost rays over the mountain, +and dispersing their sparkling threads in the bright and cloudless +atmosphere. Very soon the fancied islands around me caught the +splendid hue of the luminary, and shone like burnished gold on their +eastern sides. In the west, where they were most thickly strown over +the white sea of mist, and where their sides alone appeared, I could +imagine them to be the islands of the blessed (so famous in ancient +poetry,) where light and peace reigned perpetually. But the pleasing +illusion was soon dissipated. The surface of the mist hitherto lying +still, became agitated like a boiling caldron. Every where light +clouds arose from it and melted away. Presently the lower hills of the +country began to show their tops as if they were emerging from this +troubled sea. When the sun displayed his full orb of living fire, the +vapory commotion increased, the features of the low country began to +be unveiled, and the first audible sound of the morning, the barking +of a farmer's dog, rose from a deep vale beneath, and completely broke +the enchantment of the twilight scene. When the sun was an hour high, +the fog only marked the deep and curvilinear beds of the waters. Nor +was I less delighted with the realities of the prospect before me. + +The country lay beneath and around me to the utmost extent of vision. +Along the uneven surface of the great valley, a thousand farms in +every variety of situation were distinctly visible, some in low vales, +some on the upland slopes, and here and there a few on the elevated +sides of the mountains. + +On the northeast, the less hilly county of Augusta was seen in dim +perspective, like a large level of blueish green. Stretching along the +eastern horizon for many a league, the Blue Ridge shewed a hundred of +its lofty pinnacles among which the Peaks of Otter toward the south, +rose pre-eminently conspicuous. The valley in a southwestern direction +was partly concealed by the isolated line of the Short Hill: but +beyond that appeared at intervals the vales of James river, from the +gap where the stream has burst through the Blue Ridge, up to the place +where it has cloven the North mountain, and thence round by the west, +to the remarkable rent which it has made in the solid rock of the +Jackson mountain, a distance altogether of some forty miles. + +On the western side, the view is of a different character. Here it +seemed as if all the mountains of Virginia had assembled to display +their magnificence and to exhibit with proud emulation, their +loftiness and their length. Line upon line, ridge behind ridge, +perched over one another, crossed the landscape in various directions, +here swelling into round knobs, and there stretching off in long +masses far and wide; until they faded away in the blue of the +atmosphere, and distinction of form and color was lost in the +distance. + +When I was able to withdraw my eyes from the collective whole of this +sublime prospect, and to examine the particular objects that appeared +around me, I was struck with the long narrow vales on the western +side. The cultivated low grounds and streams of water, all converging +towards the wider stream and valley of the James river, presented a +beautiful contrast with the rude grandeur of the mountains among which +they lay. When I looked down upon the country in the immediate +vicinity of the House Mountain, I admired the beauties of the scene. +The woody hillocks and shady dells had lost every rough and +disagreeable feature: the surface of the woods was uniformly smooth +and green, like a meadow, and wound before the elevated eye with the +most graceful curves imaginable. The little homesteads about the foot +of the mountain, the large farms and country seats further away in the +valley, and the bright group of buildings in the village of Lexington, +formed a gentle scene of beauty, which relieved the mind from the +almost painful sublimity of the distant prospect, and prepared us, +after hours of delightful contemplation, to descend from our aerial +height, and to return with gratified feelings to our college and +studies again. + +_Lexington, Virginia_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +VISIT TO THE VIRGINIA SPRINGS, + +_During the Summer of 1834_. + +NO. I. + + +On the morning of a bright and beautiful day early in July, I resumed +my seat in the mail coach at Lexington, with the prospect of soon +reaching the Virginia Springs. The line having been recently +established was as yet little known, and on this occasion I was the +only passenger. Ample opportunity was afforded for viewing the +charming scenery which surrounds this village; and, certainly, the +world can scarcely present a more lovely landscape than that which lay +before us as we entered upon the turnpike which leads to the Springs. + +At the foot of the hill which we were descending, "Woods's Creek" was +stealing along through the shaded retreats and the velvet green which +lines its banks; the adjoining hills were crowned with waving fields, +now ripening for the harvest; the chimnies of the "Mulberry Hill" +residence could just be seen, peering above the groves and the foliage +which throw their charms around its retirement; the ruins of the "Old +Academy"--where Alexander, Baxter, Matthews, Rice, and others of the +first men in the Presbyterian Church were educated,--with its +mouldering, ivy-covered walls, stood in melancholy solitude on the +borders of the neighboring forest. Beyond, was the rolling country in +its variety of scenery; and in the back ground, the House, Jump and +North Mountains marking their clear outline, against the deep azure of +a cloudless sky. + +After winding among the hills for a few hours, we came in view of the +long, unbroken range of mountains, over which we were to pass; and +though still some miles from the base, the road could be distinctly +traced, running in straight, and then in zigzag directions along the +precipitous ascent. Soon after, we commenced our slow progress up the +mountain, which might have been tedious had it not been that every +successive moment which increased our elevation, revealed new +beauties. The road itself is one of the curiosities of this region; it +would scarcely seem possible for the ingenuity and energy of man to +construct so safe and so delightful a passage over these rough and +almost perpendicular ridges. At one point you may look from your +carriage window upon the traveller some fifty feet below, parallel +with yourself, and, paradoxical as it may appear, proceeding in the +same direction, although he is bound for the opposite end of the road. +So great are the angles necessary to be made in order to overcome the +obstacles which nature had interposed. The declivity of the turnpike, +however, is now so slight as to admit of travelling at almost any +speed. + +On reaching the summit, the view was inexpressibly grand. One of the +loveliest sections of the Valley of Virginia spread its beauties below +us. On one hand the "House Mountain" rose in solitary grandeur above +the surrounding hills, and on the other the dark spurs of the +Alleghany projected out into the more cultivated country. On the +southwest, as far as the eye could reach, mountain after mountain +could be seen. Immediately below and before us, were laid out as a +map, the fertile fields, comfortable farm-houses and county roads of +Rockbridge; the numerous streams reflected in silvery sheets, as they +wound through the broken country and hurried along to pour their +waters into the bosom of the James. Across the "Valley" at the +distance of perhaps twenty miles, the great "Blue Ridge" stretched +away towards the north and south, until it was lost in the deeper +azure of the evening sky, or hid by the dark and heavy clouds which +bear the summer's storm. + +We were now upon the boundary which separates the "Valley" from +Western Virginia. After gazing in admiration on the beauties of the +country through which we had just travelled, I turned to enjoy similar +scenes on the opposite side. But nothing except successive piles of +mountains met the view. The deep vales and sun-tinged peaks, seemed to +be still slumbering in their original wildness, and had it not been +for the traces of art exhibited by our turnpike, and the sight of an +iron foundry in the valley below, I should have been almost forced to +the conclusion, that we were disturbing the silence of those forests +which had never before echoed but to the cry of the panther, or the +war-whoop of the wandering Indian. + +Having halted a few minutes, the driver "shod" our coach, and rolling +away with the sound of thunder down the mountain, we reached the inn +where the stage stopped for the night, just as the sun was sinking +behind the western hills. Our landlord and his better half were +themselves Dutch, and had raised up a stout rosy-looking family, who +attended to the domestic concerns of the establishment without the aid +of servants. The house was situated on a level lawn between two lofty +ridges of the Alleghany, part of which was neatly enclosed, and +clothed with the richest green. The domicil itself was one story in +height, with a piazza in front; and the peculiar national taste of the +proprietor could be seen in the free use of red and black paint with +which the establishment was ornamented. But the interior presented an +aspect rather more inviting, after the fatigue of the day's ride. The +snow-white table cloth, and the clean and plain, yet delightful fare, +with which the table was bountifully supplied, gave evidence of the +existence of _taste_ in the culinary department, which amply +compensated for the want of it in matters of less substantial +importance. A handsome coach and four had driven up just as we +arrived. After tea the guests assembled in the piazza, and we passed +away in cheerful conversation the hours of a lovely summer's evening, +in this wild valley among the mountains. + +We reached _Covington_, a village on Jackson's river, to breakfast the +next morning, and by ten o'clock had arrived at Callaghens, a +comfortable country tavern, where we intersected the line from +Staunton. On the arrival of that stage, I changed conveyances, and +with it the light and rapid travelling of the former coach, for the +slow and heavy motion of one loaded down with passengers and baggage. +I found as my new companions, a very agreeable gentleman from +Philadelphia, with his wife and son, an intelligent young South +American, a huge and awkward Mississippian, an _incog._ gentleman with +a good countenance and a white hat of the first magnitude, a youth of +about seventeen, whose emaciated countenance, hectic flush and +distressing cough, told that consumption had marked him as its victim, +together with one or two others not peculiarly interesting. We were +now but fifteen miles from the White Sulphur; and the impatience of +our passengers seemed to increase almost in the duplicate ratio as the +distance diminished. Every few moments the interrogatory, "How far are +we now?" was heard from some one of the company. At length the number +of handsome vehicles, persons on horseback and on foot, which were +passing and repassing us, shewed that we were in the vicinity of the +Springs. In a few moments the enclosure came in view, and immediately +after we drove up in front of the hotel at the White Sulphur. Groups +of gentlemen were collected about the lawn and in the long piazza of +the hotel. All eyes were eagerly turned towards our coach, and many +came crowding round, in hopes of espying the face of an acquaintance +among the new arrivals. The first physiognomy which greeted our vision +was that of the manager of the establishment, who has no very enviable +notoriety among the visitors. According to his usual system, he had +our baggage deposited for the remainder of the day at the foot of the +tree where we landed, whilst we were left to wander about the +premises, without even a domicil in which to change our dusty +travelling garb for one more in unison with our personal comfort, and +the general appearance of those who were to constitute our temporary +associates. + +There is something in the first view of the White Sulphur, very +prepossessing and almost enchanting. After rolling along among the +mountains and dense forests, the wild and uncultivated scenery is at +once exchanged for the neatness and elegance of refined society, and +the bustle and parade of the fashionable world. Almost every state in +the Union, and some of the nations of Europe may find their +representatives at the White Sulphur, during the months of July and +August. The last season was honored with an uncommon assemblage of +interesting personages. We had Messrs. Clay and Poindexter of the +United States Senate; McDuffie and others from the House of +Representatives; Commodores Chauncey, Biddle and Rogers of the Navy; +Judges Carr, Brooke and Cabell of the Court of Appeals; Col. +Aspinwall, American Consul at London; the Hon. Mr. Sergeant of +Philadelphia, and a host of dignitaries of somewhat lower +degree,--also from the religious community, Rev. Doctors Johns and +Keith of the Episcopal Church, and Rev. Messrs. Chester, Styles, (of +Georgia) and others of the Presbyterian. Mr. Clay was just recovering +from an injury he had received from the upsetting of the stage, but he +moved about with the lightness and activity of a boy of 15. Indeed we +almost thought that he descended from his dignity by his frivolous and +careless air. He was affable and accessible to all. Mr. McDuffie, on +the contrary, with his hard and forbidding countenance, was morose and +distant, and the very reverse of the orator of Kentucky. Perhaps, +however, due allowance should be made in favor of the former, on +account of the infirm state of his health. + +But the White Sulphur itself must not pass unnoticed. Its charms are +worthy of being celebrated. The buildings, which are situated on a +gradual acclivity, are arranged in the form of a hollow square. +Adjoining the Kanawha turnpike, which passes the springs and parallel +with it, are two large white hotels. One of these contains the dining +and drawing rooms, and in the other there is a spacious saloon for +music, dancing, &c. This is also used on the Sabbath as a chapel. In a +line with these, and running in each direction, is a row of cottages +one story in height, for the use of visitors. With this at the eastern +extremity unites a continued range of beautiful white cottages, with +venitians and long piazzas, forming another side of the quadrangle. At +the distance of several hundred paces from the hotels, and parallel +with them on the hill side, is the third range, which is built +entirely of brick and extends for several hundred yards, until its +lower termination is concealed amongst the trees which form a thick +grove on the brow of the hill. On the western extremity of the area +are the bathing houses, and above all, that which constitutes the +great attraction--the spring. The reservoir in which the spring rises, +is an octagon of about five feet in diameter, from which a constant +and copious stream flows off, supplying the bathing houses. A few +steps lead up from this reservoir, to a platform some twenty-five feet +in diameter, furnished with seats and surrounded by a neat railing. +The whole is protected by a beautiful temple, composed of lofty white +pillars surmounted by a dome. From the interior of this dome is +suspended a chandelier, by which the temple is lighted up in the +evenings. A lawn of the richest green, tastefully laid out with +gravelled walks, and shaded by an abundance of oaks and locusts, +extends over the area of the quadrangle. At the distance of a few feet +from the cottages is a light railing, along which, as also along the +walks, are lamp-posts, from which the area is brilliantly illuminated +in the evening. + +We know of no scene more romantic and picturesque than that presented +to a spectator from one of the cottages on the hill, after the lamps +have been lighted for the night. The floods of light, streaming among +the trees, and from every window; the throngs of the gay and +fashionable, crowding the walks for the evening's promenade, and the +thrilling melody of the rich music from a fine German band, throws +quite a fairy-like influence around this pleasant retreat among the +mountains. + +On the Sabbath, the saloon usually occupied as a dancing room, was +consecrated to more hallowed purposes. At the call of the bell, a +large and very respectable congregation assembled, and listened to a +solemn and eloquent discourse from the Rev. Doct. Johns of Baltimore. +It seemed peculiarly appropriate, that while resorting to these waters +for healing the diseases of the body, we should also have recourse to +the wells of salvation which have been opened in the house of David +for the diseases of the soul. The grace and elegance with which the +speaker on this occasion presented the truths connected with his +office, was calculated to render them interesting, as well as to +convey a sense of their importance even to the most indifferent. + +It would be perhaps superfluous to speak of the healing efficacy of +this celebrated spring; its renovating effects are annually exhibited, +and have been for years. It has been, however, a matter of regret, +that so little has been certainly known, as to the peculiar properties +of this as well as the other mineral springs of Virginia, and of their +application to different diseases. It is a lamentable fact that +invalids, by resorting to one of the springs which was not at all +suited to their case, have only aggravated their diseases, and hurried +themselves more rapidly to the grave. No impression is perhaps more +common and none more erroneous, than that if the use of a particular +spring is efficacious in one complaint, it will be equally beneficial +in others, no matter how different their nature, and that at all +events if no good is gained, no positive injury is received. The very +opposite of this is the fact. Unless there is a clear understanding of +the pathology of the disease, and of the properties of the water, as +well as the adaptation of its constituents to remove the malady in +view, we are for the most part groping in the dark, and playing at +best but a hazardous game. The want of a mineral water suited to the +case of invalids, need however deter no one from visiting the Virginia +Springs. Providence has supplied in this region a variety sufficient +to answer the necessities of almost any case. The only difficulty is, +to ascertain which of these watering places is adapted to the +particular disease. + +Doctors Bell and Horner have given to the public the results of some +investigations in reference to these waters, but the former had never +visited the springs, and the latter only for a few weeks of one +season, without either proper apparatus to perfect a complete +analysis, or sufficient opportunity for witnessing their practical +effects. The consequence is, that both of these gentlemen, though +eminent in their professions, have given their authority to statements +which are in many respects erroneous. Difficulties from this source +however will soon be remedied. Professor Rogers of William and Mary +College, a gentleman eminently qualified for the purpose, visited the +springs last summer with complete analyzing apparatus, and it is to be +hoped that the cause of humanity will speedily realize the benefit of +his valuable investigations. Dr. Tindall, who has made the White +Sulphur his place of residence for several seasons, has devoted his +attention to ascertaining the practical effects of the waters, and +intended issuing a volume on the subject before the commencement of +the next summer. + +The efficacy of the White Sulphur is principally confined to +affections of the liver, and derangements of the sanguiferous and +biliary systems. Where there is any tendency to pulmonary disease, the +use of this water should by all means be avoided. Its exciting effects +are exceedingly prejudicial to such constitutions. A continued use of +the water will occasion a rapid progress of the disease. Individuals +of a consumptive habit have been known to hasten their end by a +residence at the White Sulphur. One case at least has come within my +own observation. + +We cannot leave the White Sulphur without a deep feeling of regret, +that the proprietors of this otherwise attractive and delightful +place, should make so little provision for the comfort of visitors. +The buildings, though extensive, are not at all sufficient to +accommodate the numbers which now resort thither. During the last +summer almost every house for miles on the roads leading to the +springs, was thronged with persons who had been turned off at the +hotel. Many of those who could obtain the privilege of remaining upon +the ground, received exceedingly unpleasant accommodations. The table +too, which assumes a prodigious importance after a week's residence +and use of the water, is by no means such as should be afforded at +such an establishment. Every visitor will recollect his dining-room +experience at the White Sulphur. But one of the most unpleasant +features of the whole, is found in the person of the manager, who, +although naturally possessed of an amiable and accommodating +disposition, we must say, in our opinion, is not qualified for the +situation. It is much to be lamented, that this place which possesses +decided advantages over any watering place in the United States and +perhaps in the world--whose climate, scenery and healing properties +are no where surpassed, and to which, notwithstanding the +accommodations, crowds resort, should not be fitted up in a style +suited to its merits. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +THE FINE ARTS. + +NO. III. + + --------------- In elegant design, + Improving nature: in ideas fair, + Or great, extracted from the fine antique; + In attitude, expression, airs divine; + Her sons of Rome and Florence bore the prize. + + _Thomson_. + + +The sixteenth century was remarkable for the transcendant excellence +of the Italian painters; every city had its school, and each school +preserved a different style, distinguished for expression, grace or +dignity. By schools, we do not mean academies, for there were none +when these great men came forth ennobling nature: they studied in the +"academic groves" of the Arno and the Tiber, and were themselves the +establishers of those schools, that fettered genius with scholastic +rules, and from that day the arts began to decline; each succeeding +generation became imitators of the preceding one, and neglecting the +study of nature and the poetry of art, they fell into a manerism, +growing worse and worse down to their present puerile and meretricious +style. And here permit us to correct a very prevalent error, that +Italy at this day is distinguished far its living artists, when in +fact no country of Europe is so deficient in men eminent in sculpture +and painting; but for the present we will confine our remarks to the +masters of the sixteenth century and their unrivalled works. + +For three centuries the palm of excellence has been awarded to Michael +Angelo for originality, to Raphael for correctness of design and +expression, to Titian for color, and Correggio for grace; but that in +which they all agree is sublimity. "This," says Longinus, "elevates +the mind above itself, and fills it with high conceptions and a noble +pride." The sources of the sublime he makes to consist of "boldness or +grandeur in thought, pathos, expression, and harmony of structure," +and these characterize the works of the Italian masters, and place +them amongst the epics of the pencil. It is not, as pretended +connoisseurs assert, in the high relief, the wonderful foreshortening, +the boldness of the touch or fine finish, or even harmony of coloring, +that these works claim superior merit, for in all these the Dutch as a +school surpass them, but it is "in the grandeur of the thought, in the +pathos, expression and harmony of the whole." + +Michael Angelo's originality and creative powers surpassed those of +all men, and his knowledge of the human figure constituted his praise +and his reproach, for in the desire to display his anatomical +learning, he overstepped the modesty of nature and exhibited his +figures with a muscular developement, disproportioned to the strength +required. In the Sistine Chapel, a little child holding the Cybeline +book, is represented with the arms of an infant Hercules; and in his +holy family at Florence, naked men are seen in the back ground at +gymnastic exercises, having no connection with, or reference to the +modesty of the subject; the execution of this picture is hard and the +color opaque. Well might he exclaim after finishing it, "Oil painting +is unworthy of men, I leave it to boys." Raphael was the boy against +whom this sarcasm was hurled, whose works in oil will long survive +_his_ frescos, and who freed from envy--that passion of little +minds--"thanked his maker that he had lived in the days of Michael +Angelo." But the _Last Judgment_ is the work on which M. Angelo's +reputation rests as a painter; it was the last he ever executed, and +is strongly impressed with the peculiar character of its author, +originality and vigor of thought, with incongruity of persons and +place. The son of man appears in wrath to take vengeance on his +enemies, and with an uplifted hand and frowning brows, seems to say +"depart, ye cursed into everlasting punishment," and they are tumbling +headlong down in every conceivable attitude; on the other hand the +righteous are rising to eternal life, in groups of a masterly design, +executed with such strength and simplicity as to convey the most +sublime ideas of the subject; but the improper mixture of mythological +fable and Christian faith detract much from its merit, and we are +scarcely less disgusted with Charon ferrying his boat in hell, than +with the angels playing with the cross in heaven; they are equally out +of keeping, and the whole scene is deficient in drapery--even the +blessed being stands exposed in the nudity of this frail tenement. + +The work most justly to be brought in comparison with this, is the +_Transfiguration_ by Raphael. The subject is equally sublime, and +composed with equal simplicity. The whole scene rises before you with +such propriety of expression in every countenance, that it requires no +interpreter to know them; no trifling ornament diverts the attention +from the subject, and no idle levity detracts from the solemnity of +the occasion. Human infirmity is brought in strong contrast with +omnipotent power, and the mind is led by a natural gradation from our +dependance up to his goodness. An epileptic boy of interesting age is +supported in the arms of his father, and surrounded with friends and +relations, who bring him to the disciples to be healed, and the +imploring mother, the beautiful countenance of the sister, the anxious +parent and suffering boy, excite our sympathy, and we look to the +apostles for their miraculous power of healing, but their faith had +failed them; sweet charity remained, and + + "Hope the comforter lingered yet below," + +as they point to the mount "from whence their help cometh." Following +the direction we behold the prostrate three, Peter, James and John, +veiling their faces in the ineffable presence; above, self-poised in +mid air and bright in the radiance of supernatural light, the "son of +man" is seen between Moses and Elias. It has been objected that there +are two subjects here in one picture, but they are so closely allied +in the history of the event, and simultaneous in time, that to +separate them would be to destroy the effect and interest of both; +nothing could be omitted without detracting from its merit, and +nothing added without impairing its grandeur; with the exception of +two men ascending the mount in sacerdotal robes, doubtless introduced +against the wish of the artist, to gratify some officious patron. + +These two paintings may represent the schools of Rome and Florence, +and are justly esteemed the sublimest style of art. The former in +fresco, the latter in oil, and both unattractive by the beauty of +coloring or the magic of effect, but sublime in thought, expression +and design. In presenting these to the admiration of the amateur and +the study of the artist, we would not limit excellence to any one +manner, but on the contrary, reprehend those who see no beauty save in +a smoked antique, or in a modern English portrait, in the boldness of +Salvator Rosa or the finish of Carlo Dolci. These may be all beautiful +in their kind and have equal claims to admiration, though inferior in +sublimity of design. + +The Venetian school revelled in the luxury of colors and feasted the +eye with the most harmonious arrangement of the brightest tints and +broadest light and shade; and some have supposed could these have been +added to the Roman school, it would have been the perfection of art, +but Sir Joshua Reynolds thought them incompatible, and it is not +without probability that a gayer dress would have detracted from the +simplicity and greatness of the Roman paintings, as would pearls in +the ears of a fine statue. If the Venetians therefore, were not so +sublime, they were more beautiful: + + "To those of Venice. She the magic art + Of colors melting into colors gave. + Theirs too it was by one embracing mass + Of light and shade, that settles round the whole, + Or varies, tremulous, from part to part, + O'er all a binding harmony to throw, + To raise the picture and repose the sight." + +Of these, Titian stands pre-eminent in the truth of nature and the +choice of the beautiful; a refinement is impressed on every product of +his pencil, and from the portrait of Charles the 5th to the assumption +of the Madonna at Venice, (his greatest work) there is a nobleness of +air, an elevation of thought above common men or common things; it was +this, not less than the truth of his coloring, that employed his +pencil upon so many crowned and noble heads; his carnations glowed +with the freshness of life, neither erring with too much of the +blossom of the rose or the yellow of the marigold, and it is probable +from his works, Fresnoy drew that admirable precept: + + "He that would color well, must color bright, + Hope not that praise to gain by sickly white." + +Correggio comes next in the scale of excellence, who with less truth +of color than the Venetians, or greatness of design than the Romans, +surpassed them all in _grace_, that indescribable "_je ne sais quoi_," +so delightful in the movements of some persons, and equally opposed to +the rules of polished society and clownish rusticity. His figures +repose with a nature unstudied, and his children play with an infant's +artless innocence--though frequently homely in feature and badly +drawn, they irresistibly charm the learned and the simple, and command +at once the highest admiration and the highest price.[1] His finest +work is probably the St. Jerome at Parma, so called from this saint's +forming one figure in the group, with the infant Saviour, his mother, +and Mary Magdalene. The anachronism of thus introducing persons who +lived at different eras, did not affect the minds of good Catholics +three centuries since, more than the same discrepancy does the modern +reader of Anacharsis. + +[Footnote 1: A Holy Family, only 9½ by 13 inches in the national +gallery in England, was purchased for 3000 guineas.] + +G. C. + + + + +For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +RECENT AMERICAN NOVELS. + + +The year '35, rich as may be its promise of social and political good, +has so far done little for the cause of letters. The seductions of +political distinction, or the more substantial attractions of the +lucrative professions, have turned from the paths of literature all +whom genius and education have fitted to attain a high degree of +intellectual rank; while in the peculiar department of romance, the +master spirits, those who ruled the realms of fiction with undisputed +sway, have retired from the scenes of their glory, and left their +neglected wands to be played with by the puny arms of dwarfish +successors. COOPER[1] has sheltered himself from the furious storm, +which an injudicious and silly political pamphlet raised about his +head, in some quiet nook in his own native state; while IRVING, the +elegant, but over-nice, the gentle but languid IRVING, has abandoned +romance for reality, to favor the world with sketches of Indian +manners and scenery. PAULDING and Miss SEDGEWICK have ceased for a +time, to inflict their stories of humor and love, upon the proprietors +of circulating libraries, and provincial book-sellers. But the press +has not ceased: others have been found to succeed to, if not to fill +the places of those, whose genius the sanction of the world had +approved, and whose names ranked high in our infant literature. Who +are the new comers? Do they write as men having authority--the +authority of heaven-stamped genius, to claim to be heard for +themselves, and their cause?--or are they but raw, brawling braggarts, +who have broken into the sacred circle, rioting like buffoons, +disgracing what they could not honor? Are they menials of the mind, +underlings of the intellect, who have filled the rich banqueting hall +just abandoned by their superiors, sitting in squalid rags on the +splendid seats of genius, and gulping down the dregs of the deserted +wine, and the scraps of the half consumed feast--boors rioting in the +sumptuous apartments of their lords? Are they men, who, by a vigorous +and educated intellect, and the patient study of the works of the +great writers of romance, have fitted themselves to pour forth words +of burning eloquence, of bitter satire, of side-shaking humor, and +irresistible pathos? Are they artists, who, by the curious and +intricate construction of their fable, know how to excite and sustain +the deepest interest, ever urging upon the heart some tender +affection, some exalted feeling of honor and chivalry? + +[Footnote 1: Since this sentence was penned, we have noticed the +advertisement of a new (satirical?) novel, (The Mannikins,) from the +pen of this gentleman, to be published during the summer.] + +At a period when the crowd of novels issued almost daily from the +press, threatens serious injury to the literature of the age, not only +by withdrawing men of high natural capacities from the arduous study +of graver and more important subjects, but by throwing before the +public such a mass of matter, that unless they be neglected, (which +from their seductive character is not likely to be the case,) nothing +else can be read, it is of the highest importance, that an elevated +standard should be fixed by which to measure these productions. The +popular objection so often urged against this species of literature, +is not without some foundation in truth; and the only mistake made by +those who have brought it forward, consists in applying to the +species, that which is true only in individual cases. The influence of +these fictitious histories, from the rude form of the early romance, +down to the brilliant productions of the best writers of the present +century, has been, however, on the whole, advantageous to general +literature, and of the most humanizing effect upon society. Nothing +could betray more silly ignorance, than to contrast this class of +authors with those who have chosen higher and more essentially +important subjects; and because law, and philosophy, and mathematics, +may be in themselves, of a deeper interest and more universal value, +to regret the time and talent devoted to this elegant and refining +department of letters, as so much labor and opportunity thrown away. +So far from being wasted, we question, if even the most brilliant +discoveries in science, have contributed as much to the comfort and +enjoyment of society. It would be difficult to calculate the actual +amount of moral good, that may have been effected by the constant +holding up to the young and ardent, but plastic mind, the bright and +winning examples of female loveliness and manly virtue, that abound in +these popular and ever attractive volumes. And those who underrate +their powerful influence, know little of the actual workings of the +human heart--of the secret influences that direct, for good or for +evil, the wayward thoughtfulness of the young. The whole class of +romances, then, viewed as a means of forming individual character, +must assume in the eyes of the moralist and statesman, an importance +far beyond their intrinsic value, as literary works; and it is the +forgetting of the ulterior and vastly more interesting purpose which +they serve, in the general economy of society, that has misled many +virtuous and even able men, to undervalue and despise the whole +species as frivolous and worthless. A proper regard to their +influence, exerted in this way, must lie at the bottom of all sound +criticism, or the labors of the reviewer degenerate at once far below +the flippancy of the most trashy of the works he reads but to condemn. +The novel is only valuable as illustrating some peculiarities, +defects, or excellencies of character--passages of historical +interest, or the manners and customs of a class; and its success must +depend on the ability with which it is adapted to the end desired to +be accomplished. It is only the more unthinking class of writers, who +mistaking the means for the end, have lost sight of all _object_ in +the composition of their tales. Don Quixotte was not written as a mere +record of amusing absurdities; its purpose was to put down the +injurious and ridiculous follies, which the wit of Cervantes happily +lashed out of Spain. And it will be found that no work has obtained an +extensive and lasting popularity, that did not recommend itself by +something beyond the mere detail of the story, and the humor of the +dialogue. But to return from this long digression. + + * * * * * + +THE INSURGENTS. We commence with these volumes as decidedly superior, +in point of ability and interest, to other works on our table, from +the pens of American writers. They are the production of one who has +written before, who knows his own strength, and has fallen, (if we may +use the expression,) into the regular gait of authorship--he is broken +to the press. An outline of the plot, will the better enable those who +may not have perused the work itself, to comprehend the justice of the +scenes, and to understand the excellencies or defects of the various +characters that figure on the stage. The story is laid in +Massachusetts, at the period of the insurrectionary movements, among +the inhabitants of some of the interior counties, during the +administration of Governor Bowdoin, and immediately after the close of +the revolutionary war. _Col. Eustace_, an officer of the revolutionary +army, a generous but careless manager of his own affairs, has after +several years of arduous service, and in consequence of ill health, +retired to an estate fast falling to ruin, under the thriftless +conduct of the open-handed thoughtless veteran. _Henry Eustace_, his +eldest son, had served for two years as an adjutant to his father, and +returned after the close of the war, full of ardent aspirations, and +without any regular profession, to his paternal home. _Elizabeth +Eustace_, is the only daughter of the old Colonel, and as the +propriety of the novel requires, a lovely and interesting girl. _Tom +Eustace_, a younger brother, plays a subaltern part in the +developement of the story. _Frank Talbot_, an officer but a few years +the senior of Henry Eustace, succeeds to the Colonelcy, vacant by the +retirement of the elder Eustace; and after the disbanding of the army, +returns to his residence in the village, near the estate of Col. +Eustace, and is soon deeply immersed in professional business as a +lawyer, and in the political duties of a representative of his native +town, in the General Court, the title by which the Legislature of +Massachusetts was then distinguished. Frank too, has a sister, _Mary_, +somewhat the senior of Elizabeth, and distinguished from her by a +reserved manner and studious habit, but little characteristic of her +age and sex. The concluding portion of the second chapter, discovers +the secret attachment, which Elizabeth Eustace already bore the young +legislator, and drops the reader a hint of what the after pages of the +work more fully disclose. + +The great sacrifices of property, incident to a war of seven years, +and the heavy imposts which the necessities of the state government +impelled it to levy on those who were already deeply involved, stirred +up among that class of the people, a spirit of sullen discontent; and +the legislature was already the arena on which the relief, or popular +party on the one hand, and the creditors on the other, had arrayed +themselves in fierce opposition. Talbot, who is represented as +"devoured by an ambition for political power and distinction," with an +active restless spirit, determined to disregard all principle, +whenever a more conscientious course might interfere with the +gratification of his political aspirations, embraced the side of the +malcontents, and was now on a visit to his constituents, for the +purpose of rousing them up to more active remonstrance against the +measures of the creditors' or government party, already supposed to +have secured a majority in the lower house of the State Legislature. +Henry Eustace, at this time, visits his friend, and consults with him +on the choice of a profession. Medicine, to which he at first +inclined, is soon abandoned, for the more attractive employment of +politics; and fascinated by the popular eloquence of Talbot, whose +enthusiasm had already enflamed the ardent blood of Henry, he becomes +one of the most violent of the partizans of the party to which Talbot +was then attached. While on this visit to the neighborhood, Talbot +engages himself to Elizabeth Eustace. His talents and influence had +already attracted the attention of the friends of the government, and +they resolve to tempt him to desertion from his present associates, by +the offer of electing him, by their support, to the Senate, to which +he already aspired, but with little hope of success, from the votes of +his own party. Having espoused the popular cause, from motives of +personal interest, he as readily abandons it, when more seductive +offers are held out by the opposite party. The baseness of Talbot, who +seizes the first opportunity to betray the cause he had formerly +supported, is an unexpected blow to Eustace, and severs the friendship +that before existed between them. The latter assumes the secret +command of the conspirators, while Talbot devotes all his energy and +abilities to the service of his new friends of the government; and +every day widens the difference between them. A large portion of the +two volumes is taken up with descriptions of the various marchings and +counter-marchings of the insurgents and the militia, in the course of +which Talbot and Eustace engage in single combat; the latter strikes +the sword from his adversary's hand, and spares him his life. The +story then goes on, without any thing of importance occurring, until +the conflict between the two parties in the Legislature, is decided in +favor of the government, by the passage of a law for the suspension of +the _habeas corpus_ act. The hatred between Talbot and Eustace had +already become of the most rancorous and malignant character, and the +arrest of the latter, who had been once saved by the sister of Talbot, +is now effected by her brother at the head of a party of soldiers. +Thus deprived of their chief support, in the person of Eustace, the +insurgents are soon dispersed, not however without a skirmish, in +which they are put to flight, in a way at once ludicrous and +conclusive. The first fire disperses them, never to recover. Elizabeth +Eustace and Mary Talbot, in the mean time, manage to bring about a +reconciliation between the two hostile brothers, to whom they had been +respectively engaged, and a double marriage consummates the happiness +of this quartette, and concludes the second and last volume of the +"Insurgents." So much for the story, which though simple enough in the +detail, is liable to the serious objection, that must ever lie against +that division of interest, the necessary consequence of introducing a +double set of characters into a plot, that should be single and +simple. The unities of the drama are not more essential to the +perfection of pieces designed for theatrical representation, than is +the preservation of an individual and prominent interest in the hero +of a novel. The narrow compass of a couple of duodecimos, is not more +than sufficient for the painting of one chief character, with the +sketches of the minor _personæ_, necessary to sustain the interest of +a plot. An attempt at double teaming a novel, with two sets of heroes, +invariably results in destroying that prominence of interest, which a +closer adherence to the legitimate form of the fable, naturally and +necessarily insures; and no more striking illustration of our position +could be found, than in the volumes before us. The characters of +Eustace and Talbot, neither contrast with effect, nor harmonize in the +general management of the plot; and the awkward and unnatural +reconciliation, which is finally brought about, to say nothing of the +perplexities into which the cross-loves of the four, plunge the +writer, is the best evidence that this double-plotting has injured the +effect of the story, by rendering it necessary to force a conclusion. + +As the fidelity to nature, in the character of the principal actors, +must always be one of the highest sources of interest to a critical +reader, we shall notice very briefly, the manner in which the author +of the "Insurgents" has succeeded in the _personnel_ of his +descriptions. The old Colonel, the father of Henry Eustace, is exactly +such a personage as every reader may have met with--brave, generous, +careless, and ignorant, he is, perhaps, a very correct picture of the +better part of the _ancien regime_ of our colonial and revolutionary +times. Without any striking peculiarities of character, and playing +but a subaltern part in the story, he only appears as a piece of the +family furniture, brought into play, by the casual location of the +scene. The reader has no cause to regret the slightness of the +acquaintance. The Colonel's second son, Tom, is but an appendage to +the story. Henry, one of the heroes, begins in the army, a mischief +loving, rule breaking, but active and gallant youth; and in the +progress of the story, becomes an eloquent, restless, rebellious +demagogue--stirring up insurrection among the people--defending in the +Legislature, with consummate ability, their pretended wrongs and +actual treason; and upon one occasion, displaying in the field, the +chivalrous courage of his hot and impatient years. He is, however, +always honorable and sincere. His treason is infatuation, and his +_demagogueism_ (if we may coin a much wanted word,) the frenzy of +passion and thoughtlessness. Talbot, on the contrary, is bold and +eloquent; a brave soldier, and an accomplished advocate; but a cunning +and unprincipled politician, who, in the beginning of his career, +espouses the cause of the malcontents, as the only means of securing +the representation of his native village in the Legislature, and as +quickly abandons it, when a higher office is promised him by the +friends of the government, as the price of his desertion. Dr. Talbot, +a country physician "of long practice and high repute," is an abrupt, +rough, but good natured disciple of Esculapius, and seems to have been +intended for no other purpose, than to enable the author to discharge +his wit at the expense of some of the ill mannered admirers of the +surly blackguardism of the Abernethy school of medical gentility. Of +the two heroines, Mary Talbot is a thoughtful, reserved, bright eyed +_blue_; Elizabeth Eustace is younger, and prettier, but more entirely +the child of nature. Neither of them, however, say or act any thing +that can distinguish them from the common _materiel_ of all +novel-women, and serve rather the necessities of the plot, than the +illustration of any of the more touching or exalted beauties of female +character. Of the _Dii minorum gentium_--the lower order of character, +Zeek Morehouse, a worthless understrapper about the old Colonel's +domestic establishment--Hezekiah Brindle, another domestic, who, when +fortune had abandoned the standard of the Insurgents, with the most +simple hearted treachery, "'lists for a private" in the adverse +army--Deacon Hopkins, a thin visaged, flint hearted knave, the usurer +of the parish--Captain Moses Bliss, the inn keeper, one of those pert, +low rogues, so often found in village taverns--Captain Shays, the +leader of the insurgents, and the very impersonation of the spirit of +the militia service--Mrs. Appleton and Mrs. Shattuck, specimens of the +virago, are all rather amusing examples of Yankee low life, and afford +occasion for much characteristic, if not very interesting dialogue. +The other characters brought out in the developement of the story, +scarcely deserve to be noticed, serving as they only do, like soldiers +drafted from the cobbler's stalls and tailors benches, for the use of +the stage, to help the author through the necessities of his plot. + +The conduct of the story, is in some respects extremely, and very +often unnecessarily, faulty. The introduction of Zeek Morehouse, in +the second chapter, is a bungling expedient to beat out the author's +_materiel_, over a larger surface for the publisher: and the whole +scene in the kitchen, and afterwards in the presence of the Colonel's +family, is low and dull. The Doctor (Talbot,) is always an unnecessary +personage, and we hardly think there is any thing about him, to +compensate the delay in the story which his presence occasions. The +affair of "Mary Gibbs's misfortune," is awkwardly brought in, and +unsatisfactorily disposed of. We are sorry for the misconduct of +Eustace, and rather vexed at the facile forgiveness with which his +mistress overlooks it; while the silence of the novelist gives a +venial character to one of the most crying offences against individual +happiness and social order. Osborne, and his adventures, from the +commencement, through his trial and mock punishment, down to the +period of the marriage with Miss Warren, form an episode that only +swells the volume, without helping on the story, or affording the +author any opportunity (that he had not before,) for remark, or the +illustration of character. He is nothing but the shadow of Eustace, in +point of character; and Miss Warren, as a sketch of a flirting +fashionable, is not worth the pains taken to introduce her to the +reader. The capital defect of the plot, however, is in the conclusion. +The bitter contempt which Eustace must have felt, (and which he seizes +every opportunity to express,) for the baseness of Talbot, in +betraying the cause of the popular party, and the rancorous hatred +which his subsequent violent persecution of him, had engendered in the +breast of Eustace, (see vol. 2, p. 266-7,) to say nothing of the +cordial detestation with which Talbot returned his ill will, (see vol. +2, p. 268,) renders the reconciliation, effected without any sort of +explanation, apology, or clearing up of the guilt of either, unnatural +and disgusting. Eustace _knew_ the baseness of Talbot, and the latter +(a bearded man, and a soldier,) had just declared that he would sooner +follow his sister to the grave, than see her united to his enemy; and +yet, presto! the author having finished out his second volume, the +traitor and his bitter foe, shake hands, and enter at once into an +exchange of sisters by a double marriage! In this particular, the +story is contrived with great want of skill. + +The author seems to have been aware of the propriety and good taste of +preserving historical correctness in a novel, founded on scenes in +real life; but he does not comprehend, to its full extent, the spirit +of that sound canon. So far as the progress of the story, in the +movements of the insurgents, is concerned, the _events_ are in strict +keeping with Bradford's account of the insurrections in Massachusetts. +But this was but a small part of the duty of the novelist; and he has +violated all the rest. The open rebellion of the greater part of the +population of several counties, threatened the most serious and +alarming evil; perhaps the total overthrow of the government of the +state; and the spirit of the people had become sullen and gloomy. In +the "Insurgents," however, the whole affair is treated with ridicule, +and the reader of the novel is left with an impression that the +insurrection was of a character, compared with which, the adventures +of Don Quixotte and his squire, were serious and important! Shays, who +was the head of the malcontents, and commander in chief of the +disorderly forces that were arranged against the government, is +painted in the novel, as a despicably ignorant and silly creature. +Now, such would not have been the character of a man, elected to head +a band of desperate insurgents, upon the point of engagement with the +forces of a powerful commonwealth! We may add, that the whole body of +the relief party, with the exception of Eustace, and his friend +Osborne, are described as frivolous gasconading clowns. In this +respect, then, there has been a gross falsification of history, and +the extremely literal adherence of the author, to historical +correctness in _events_, renders this striking variation the more +apparent, and the more to be lamented. + +The moral of the "Insurgents," is defective. The treachery of Talbot, +and the indignant virtue of Eustace, are rewarded with the same final +happiness; and the unfortunate Mary Gibbs does not even suggest to the +author a word of censure, upon her guilty seducer. We should have been +glad to have made such extracts from the work, as would have enabled +our readers to judge for themselves of its merit; but there are few, +if any passages, in either volume, of very striking interest, and any +partial quotation would rather have misled, than corrected their +judgment. + + + + +Men of humor are always, in some degree, men of genius; wits are +rarely so, although a man of genius may, amongst other gifts, possess +wit, as Shakspeare. + +_Coleridge's Table Talk_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LETTERS ON THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. + +By a young Scotchman now no more. + + +_Boston, 1832_. + +DEAR HENRY,--You have requested me to give you some information +concerning the science and literature of the United States, which have +been so often the subjects of ridicule and derision in the critical +reviews and other literary journals of our country. I take great +pleasure in complying with this request, as far as my limited +opportunities have enabled me to judge of their condition. I have read +almost every American work of any merit I could obtain, and mingled +with some of their men of science and letters, for the purpose of +being directed in my researches, and of acquiring from personal +observation, a better knowledge of their living authors. + +In science, perhaps, for so young and growing a nation, its progress +has been as steady and rapid as could reasonably have been expected. +In the exact and physical sciences, there are some who, though they +have not greatly enlarged their circle, are nevertheless profoundly +versed in them, and who would not be ranked below the best in Europe. +In chemistry, mineralogy, and botany, several have acquired great +distinction, and these sciences are becoming daily more popular and +more generally cultivated. Many of the young of both sexes attend +occasional and regular lectures on each, but especially on the first +and last, and it is not rare to meet with females conversant to a +certain degree with both. In the northern cities, public lectures are +delivered on various branches of science, which are attended by both +sexes. There are at present several scientific journals published in +the United States, which are said to be pretty generally patronized, +and two or three scientific associations, whose transactions have been +given to the public. Of the former, the most meritorious +are--Silliman's Journal of Science, the Franklin Quarterly Journal, +Chapman's and some other medical journals, and two or three law +journals. Of the philosophical transactions I can say but little. I +have merely glanced over those of the American Philosophical Society, +the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Literary and +Philosophical Society of New York, but that glance has not impressed +me very favorably with the genius or learning of their members. Some +few papers are indeed valuable, and exhibit considerable research and +erudition, but they appear to be deficient in originality, depth and +lucidness. I have, however, never been very partial to these +associations. The amount of their contributions to science or +literature has never been so great as to render their formation +desirable in my eye, and certainly they are not to be compared with +the individual labors of those great luminaries who have shed such +radiance over the paths of science. Scientific men here have published +from time to time the result of their labors in the different physical +sciences, to the cultivation of which they have devoted a large +portion of their lives. The botanical works of Bigelow, Nutall, +Barton, Eaton and Elliott, the works on American birds by Wilson, +Bonaparte and Audubon, that on mineralogy by Cleveland--on entomology +by Say, and on natural history by Goodman, are highly creditable to +the country in which they were produced. Law and medical lectures are +frequently published, and law reports are numerous. I believe every +State has its reporter, and every year brings forth a volume or two of +decisions. Jurisprudence appears to be in this country a more +complicated science than in Europe. The student has not only to make +himself acquainted with the elements and principles of English law, +maritime, civil and criminal, but he has to acquire a knowledge of the +laws of the particular state in which he practices, and to know what +the courts of the different states have decided, where he does not +practice. Law is a favorite science, if indeed it can be called a +science, among the Americans. There is scarcely a youth who has +received the most ordinary education, that does not undertake to study +and practice, or attempt to practice it. In a government of laws like +this, law will be a desirable object of attainment, and hence almost +every citizen is more or less conversant with the laws by which he is +governed. The medical science too, is very extensively cultivated, and +this profession has produced several distinguished men, of whom the +nation has reason to feel proud. But metaphysical science is almost +entirely neglected, which is a matter of surprise when we consider the +very inquisitive and refining character of the American mind. Men +here, however, have no time for mere abstract speculation; and though +many of them refine and subtilize, and split hairs on constitutional +questions, they are not very anxious to analyze or investigate mere +abstractions, or to attempt to elicit light from the darkness of +metaphysical obscurity.--One of the most extensively informed +scientific men this country has produced, was Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell +of New York, who died during the summer of 1831. He had devoted his +life to the cultivation of science, especially the physical sciences, +in all of which he was well skilled; but, in consequence of that +vanity which sometimes accompanies great attainments, he often became +an object of ridicule to his countrymen, who seemed more inclined to +depreciate than to exalt his real merits. + +Of the literature of America you are almost as well informed as +myself. I have looked into most of the native productions of this +country with an impartial eye, and am sorry to say that its literature +does not rank so high as one might be led to suppose from the +intelligence of its people and the nature of its political +institutions. Literature does not receive that encouragement and +patronage under this Republic, which are calculated to give it a +vigorous growth or a permanent and healthy existence. There is not +much individual wealth, and few can afford, if they had the +inclination, to purchase the productions of native authors. There is, +however, another cause which operates to the disadvantage of American +literature, and will continue to do so, until some measure be adopted +to remedy the evil; it is the cheapness and facility with which the +productions of the British press can be republished is this country. +The American author has to struggle against many disadvantages, +especially when young, unknown and inexperienced. British works of +established reputation can be obtained at little or no expense, and +reprinted in this country, while the native writer is often obliged to +publish the productions of his mind at his own cost, or give them to +any one that will undertake to put them to the press. Few can afford +to write for mere fame, and no great inducement is offered to write +for any thing else. Hence there are but few, if any, professional +authors in the United States. For a long time too, the people of this +country were disposed to underrate their own literary powers, and many +believed that none but the works of the British press were worthy of +perusal or patronage. This prejudice is, however, now beginning to +wear away, especially since the critics of our country have been +forced to acknowledge the genius and literary excellence of some of +the native writers of America. But still when the extent, population, +age, and comparative refinement of the United States are considered, +it must be a matter of surprise that so few authors of distinction are +to be found within its widely extended limits. May not this very +extent be prejudicial to the cause of American letters? The expense of +transportation from one portion of the Union to the other is so +considerable, that the publisher finds it safer and more profitable to +confine his sales to a limited and convenient range, than to spread +his books over an almost boundless surface, from which but few +satisfactory returns are ever made. The Americans, though not a nation +of shop-keepers, as ours has been denominated, are nevertheless a +money making and thrifty people, and almost all are engaged in some +lucrative kind of business or occupation, which affords them but +little leisure for either literary pursuits, or the cultivation of a +taste for the fine arts; and though most of them are readers, their +reading is generally confined to newspapers, and the political +productions of the day. In the latter I do not think they have made +any very great progress since the period of the revolution. In force +and perspicuity of style, felicity of illustration and logical power, +the authors of the Federalist have not since been surpassed. This is a +work written in periodical numbers by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, +recommending and enforcing with great ability and eloquence, the +adoption of the constitution which now exists. It is a work which +every man should read who wishes to understand the principles of this +great charter of American liberty, and the motives, feelings and views +of its framers and supporters. + +In the walks of romance the most distinguished writers of this country +are the late Charles B. Brown of Philadelphia, and J. Fenimore Cooper +of New York, both men of unquestionable genius. The novels or romances +of the former having been recently republished in England, you have no +doubt seen them, and those of the latter, but few who read at all have +not read. Miss Sedgewick has also written some popular novels and +ranks deservedly high among the few literati of her country; and Mr. +Paulding has lately published some tales which have been well received +and possess a good deal of merit. I can scarcely class Washington +Irving among the romance writers of this country. Most of his tales +were written abroad, and I do not think that novel writing is his +forte. He has excelled in the other walks of literature so greatly +that he need not covet the fame of a writer of fictitious history. +Brown unfortunately belonged to the _satanic_ school of our countryman +Godwin, and all his _dramatis personæ_, plots, incidents and pictures +partake of the gloom and ferocity of that school; but Brown was +unquestionably a man of genius, and capable of giving lustre to the +literary reputation of his country. Godwin was his model, as Scott +seems to be that of Cooper. Brown's picture of the yellow fever in +Philadelphia cannot be surpassed in accuracy of coloring and intensity +of interest, and it may very justly be classed with the description of +the plague at Athens by Thucydides, and that of the same terrible pest +at Florence by Boccacio. In detached scenes Brown is very powerful, +but he never appears inclined to complete what he begins, or to +present a perfect whole. He sometimes breaks off abruptly, or hastens +too precipitately to a close. He delights in gloom and the more +ferocious and uncontrollable workings of the human passions. His +object is to excite terror and not tenderness--to raise up storms and +tempests, and not to breathe over the scene a quietness and repose +calculated to soothe and tranquillize. His novels like those of his +model, are now but seldom read, and he is rapidly sinking into +oblivion. + +The _dramatic_ romance of Scott and Cooper is now preferred to all +others, and has caused Brown's novels to be cast aside. Cooper's rise +to fame was as rapid as it was deserved. He had been for some years an +officer in the American Navy, where he acquired a knowledge of all the +minutiæ of nautical life, which was of great service to him in the +composition of some of his tales. These are justly considered as his +best. They display a perfect intimacy with sea life, and his +characters, incidents and sentiments are such as belong to the +"mountain wave," and are always in admirable keeping. His dialogues, +though sometimes tedious and unnecessarily prolonged are on the whole +dramatic, and serve not only to develope character but to excite the +interest of the reader. His descriptions, though at times graphic and +striking, are rather too minute for effect. The unities of time and +action are well preserved, and his plots, though very simple in their +construction, are usually wrought up with great power, and often +produce the most intense and thrilling interest. Of his female +characters, generally two in number, but little can be said; they are +Siamese twins, but with different dispositions and styles of beauty, +and play the respective parts assigned to them in the drama with +proper decency and effect. His sketches of American scenery and his +delineations of savage life and character are admirable. There is in +the former perhaps too much detail, and in the latter too high +coloring for nature; but they are unequalled, and display the vigor of +Cooper's genius and the strength of his conceptions. His style is +easy, perspicuous and fluent. In short, he is a writer of whom any +country might justly feel proud. Were I to attempt a parallel between +the American Novelist and the "Northern Magician," I should say that +Scott has more varied powers and a finer poetical mind, but in the +management of their plots, intensity of interest, and the description +of natural scenery, they are not very unequal. The Scotch romancer has +greater acquirements and a more minute and intimate acquaintance with +the history, manners and customs of past ages, but in all that +appertains to sea life Cooper is superior, and does not fall short of +his model in the ability with which he works up his incidents and +developes his plots. This, you will think, is saying a great deal for +a Scotchman, but such is my unbiassed opinion and the impression left +upon my mind, after a careful perusal of the productions of both of +these eminent writers of fictitious history. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +OBSERVATIONS + +On the National Importance of Mineral Possessions, and the Cultivation +of Geological Inquiry. + + +The importance of the metallic ores and other mineral substances, +considered as instrumental in the advancement of national prosperity, +is obvious to every one. In announcing that a certain country +possesses extensive and skilfully worked mines, either of coal, of +iron, copper, tin, lead, or other of the numerous ores, we at once +proclaim her wealth in terms that all must understand. They are +readily perceived to be essential to the prosecution of the various +arts and manufactures that flourish in the present age, and to form a +fruitful source of wealth to the country in which they happen to +abound. + +The facility, however, with which one nation can procure these from +another, owing to the free intercourse and system of exchange +subsisting between them, which thus enables a country, barren itself +in mineral treasures, to attain a respectable rank among the wealthy +nations of the earth, occasions us to assign to the possession of them +within our own soil, an importance infinitely less than is due. We are +disposed to consider them too much in the light of mere articles of +export, and valuable, chiefly as commodities of exchange: or, if we do +not bestow too much consequence on their exchangeable value, we at +least allow too little to their intrinsic worth. Yet, when we assign +to the products of the mineral kingdom their proper rank in the scale +of national blessings, they take their place beside that of a fertile +soil, or a salubrious climate,--blessings we may still enjoy, though +we adopt the exclusive and selfish policy of ancient Egypt, or of +modern China. In short, we should value these mineral productions, not +as we value one of our great staple commodities, tobacco, on account +of its nominal price, but on their own account--not by the gain +derived from parting with, but that derived from keeping them. Nor +should we confine our solicitude to procuring now, on the easiest +terms, the means of supplying our immediate wants; but with a more +comprehensive view, look forward and provide for the period, when the +growing wants of the unborn millions destined to people our almost +boundless territory, will create a demand for these substances, in +quantities which either foreign nations, with comparatively exhausted +mines, will be unable to supply, or to purchase which, we must +appropriate that produce (the produce of a large portion of the +surface of the soil,) which should be devoted to the more legitimate +purpose of furnishing to its inhabitants the means of subsistence and +employment. + +We are apt too to forget, that were it possible, with or without the +intervention of war, for a people to be cut off from all intercourse +with other nations, and to be destitute themselves of mineral +resources, that their very existence, at least as a civilized people, +would be next to impossible. That the different degrees of refinement +attained by the human race in different periods of antiquity, are +marked with a precision sufficiently distinct, by their acquaintance +with the metals, and the uses to which they are susceptible of being +applied: and, that nearer our own times, the aboriginal inhabitants of +our own continent were found existing in a higher or lower stage of +progress towards civilization, in proportion to their knowledge or +their ignorance of these substances. + +To trace a little further, the connection of mineral wealth with +national prosperity, we may observe, that the wants of a people may be +said to be mainly supplied, when they are provided with food, clothing +and habitation, and they are better or worse supplied, according to +the nature and abundance of the materials they possess for the +fabrication of these, and the perfection of the instruments they may +have, proper for fashioning them into convenient forms. The nation +which can command for its subsistence, in greatest profusion, the +varied vegetable and animal productions, of whatever clime, that +constitute the necessaries and luxuries of life; whose well stored +magazines of merchandize furnish, for its apparel, the finest fabrics +and the richest stuffs; and which can boast, for its places of +dwelling, the most commodious, splendid and durable edifices, with the +various conveniences that necessarily keep pace with improvements in +these, may be said, physically considered, to have well nigh attained +the pinnacle of prosperity. Let us observe in what manner the mineral +substances to which we have alluded, contribute to accomplish this +end. Let us suppose man rude and barbarous, for the first time, to be +presented with that best of gifts--iron; and for the sake of +proceeding, let us anticipate the slow progress of events, and give it +to him in the form into which he would soon convert it--that of the +simplest implements. Instantly his habits are changed: his wandering +mode of life is abandoned: his abode becomes fixed, and he himself +devoted to labor. In a little time, the rugged face of nature is made +to assume a softened and a brightened aspect, and to smile upon him +with a novel beauty. The ample and ancient forest, his former range, +falls with continued crash, day after day, beneath the repeated stroke +of his axe: on all sides, broad and sunny plains open around him: the +broken soil heaved up to the influence of the atmosphere by his +plough, or stirred with his hoe, begins to yield in abundance the +fruits of the earth; the prostrate timber rent asunder by his wedge, +and hewed, sawed, or chiseled into appropriate shapes, furnishes +materials of building: these, arranged and secured by means of pins or +nails of the same material, rise in orderly succession one above +another, till there is erected for his habitation a comfortable and +commodious dwelling:--while the surrounding fields, now that he has +ample food in store for their support, are overspread with the flocks +he has domesticated, to provide for his use unfailing supplies of +clothing and subsistence. Already he has made himself acquainted with +the rudiments of agriculture, architecture and manufactures, and has +laid the foundation of the useful arts. + +Compare his condition now, with that in which he existed before his +acquaintance with the uses of iron: contrast the savage of the forest +with the cultivator of the field--the scanty and precarious sustenance +of the one, with the regular and abundant subsistence of the +other--the covering of skin, with the garment of wool--the hut, with +the commodious dwelling--the hardships attendant on one mode of life, +with the numerous conveniences that follow as a necessary train to the +other; and from this rough-drawn and very imperfect outline, there may +be formed some slight idea of the revolution effected in the condition +of man, even by a limited acquaintance with the simpler uses of this +single, though most important of all the mineral substances. + +It is scarcely necessary to direct the reader's attention to the +accession to the comforts, the conveniences, the elegancies of life, +or to the vast acquisitions to the power of man, which, in successive +periods of time, have been gained by a more extended and familiar +acquaintance with the various properties of iron, and the innumerable +purposes to which, with increased advantage, human ingenuity has +discovered it to be applicable. It is sufficient to turn the eye on +some great and populous city--the seat of busy manufactures;--on a +Sheffield, a Manchester, or a Birmingham,--those nurseries of the +arts, and workshops of the world: to view its immense establishments +in active operation, and look on the tens of thousands of the +industrious they maintain and employ. It is sufficient to hear the +eternal din and incessant roar of stupendous machinery, laboring in +the service of man, in obedience to laws and impulses he has given to +it;--to see its multifarious and complicated parts performing each its +allotted movement;--swinging heavily, with measured time, and force, +or shooting to and fro with regulated rapidity; revolving slowly, and +lazily around, or flying with inconceivable velocity, and whirling +smoothly, each in its proper sphere,--moving, all in harmonious +cooperation, to effect some beneficial end, with a precision +unerring--as if impressed with the intelligence and volition of +animated being. It is sufficient, to be convinced of the great +acquisition we have in iron, to witness the wondrous effects of the +steam-engine,--that giant machine, which performs to our hands the +labor of countless hosts; which enables us to penetrate into the +secret recesses of the solid earth, and to master the ocean, and the +very elements themselves. "It rows, it pumps, it excavates, it +carries, it draws, it lifts, it hammers, it spins, it weaves, it +prints;"--that masterpiece of human skill, which, in the language of +the celebrated Doctor Black, is the most valuable present ever made by +philosophy to the arts. + +Again, when we behold materials of every known description, in the +rude state in which nature presents them, before they have been +subjected to the first elementary process in their manufacture, and +look upon them, after they have undergone the various mechanical +operations to which they are successively submitted, and are produced +in a finished state, of every form and fashion that can minister to +the wants, or gratify the caprice of man, we almost doubt their +identity, and are at a loss which most to admire, the utility of the +substance by means of which so wonderful a change has been effected, +or the sagacity of him, who moulds and constructs it into complicated +machines, to which he gives motion and almost life, to work out his +own advantage. And, lastly, when there is displayed before us the +endless variety of manufactured goods and wares;---of instruments, and +implements, and utensils;--of machines, and engines, and mechanical +contrivances to abridge human labor; when we gaze on the immense +fleets that wait to receive them, in an hundred ports of some great +manufacturing country, or survey the seas whitened with the sails, and +heaving beneath the burthens of whole navies, busied in transporting +them to distant and expectant nations, and even piloted in their +course, through the wide and trackless waste of waters, with unerring +accuracy, by a property peculiar to iron,--we turn from the +contemplation more fully persuaded of the extent to which we are +indebted to this single metal, to which in truth, if we except the +spontaneous productions of nature, (of little comparative value +unwrought,) we owe every thing we possess. + +We are enabled, perhaps, by this review, hasty though it has been, of +the numerous and varied uses of iron, better to estimate its real +worth, and we do not hesitate to assign to it, an importance among the +elements of national prosperity of the highest order, and to consider +it, what truly it is, the most valuable of all acquisitions. We look +upon the country rich in the possession of its ores, with feelings of +rivalry, and are prompted to emulate her in acquiring this true +species of substantial wealth. Our national ambition is excited to +grasp at this mighty instrument of power, and our energies should be +roused into ceaseless activity, until, by untiring assiduity in +surveying and exploring our own tempting regions, guided by the lights +borrowed from geological science, we succeed in enlarging our mineral +domain to at least an equal extent. + +Before proceeding to the consideration of any other of the substances +we have proposed to treat of, it may not be improper, here, to annex +(more in the form of notes) a few facts illustrative of the history of +the very interesting mineral which has occupied our attention in the +preceding remarks. + +Of all the metals, iron is the most widely and universally +distributed, being confined to no particular formation as its +repository, but discoverable in every class of rocks, from the oldest +granite to the newest alluvial deposit. It is also the most abundant +of the metallic ores: whole mountains composed of it occurring in the +northern parts of the globe. As instances of the great masses in which +it is found, it may be mentioned, that the sparry iron ore found in +the floetz limestone in Stiria, has been worked to an immense extent +and with great profit, for more than twelve hundred years: and, that +the Rio mountain in the island of Elba, five hundred feet in height +and three miles in circumference, known at an early day to the Romans, +(in which mines are still wrought,) is wholly composed of specular +iron ore. Though this metal, as we have stated, exists in every kind +of rock and soil, it has been remarked, that the dark oxides or its +richest ores are confined exclusively to primitive rocks. The ores are +generally, it has also been observed, of a purer quality, and more +abundant in northern regions. What are denominated iron-stones, or the +ores containing a larger proportion of earthy matter, are found in the +secondary strata, and exist commonly in great abundance in those +accompanying coal. + +Although iron was known in the remotest ages, and was in use among +some particular nations even at a time anterior to the deluge, +according to Moses, (Gen. iv. 22) we are not to presume it was in +general use: + + "Him Tubal nam'd, the Vulcan of old times + The sword and falchion their invention claim; + And the first smith was the first murderer's son." + +Nor must we forget, that the useful arts, and among them the art of +working metals, were lost to the generality of mankind, in consequence +of that universal calamity. Gold, silver and copper seem to be the +metals of which the knowledge and uses were earliest recovered after +that period; owing, no doubt, to their being oftener found on the +surface of the earth, or in the beds of streams--to their more +frequent occurrence in the metallic state, and to the greater ease +with which they are separated from their ores. Copper, though greatly +inferior to iron, yet possesses considerable tenacity, and sufficient +hardness to furnish a substitute in the construction of cutting +instruments, and either pure, or alloyed with tin to increase its +hardness, constituted the materials of which were formed the swords, +hatchets, and artist's tools of many ancient nations. The arms and +tools of the American nations were similarly made, and by means of +this awkward substitute, the Mexicans and Peruvians made considerable +advances in manufactures and the arts--greater perhaps than any other +people unacquainted with the use of iron. The inconvenience +experienced by these nations from their ignorance of this metal, and +the awkward expedients to which in consequence they had recourse, +afford an important lesson in teaching us what estimate to make of the +value of a substance, which, its very requisiteness to every common +purpose of life so familiarizes us with, as to cause us daily to pass +by with little or no notice. The evils which we are taught would +inevitably follow its loss, make a deeper impression of its +importance, than all the advantages, manifold though they be, which in +heedless enjoyment, we are continually deriving from its possession. +With no better substitute for iron tools in cutting stone, than the +sharp edged fragments of flint,--without carriages, or machines of any +kind,--how tedious and laborious must have been the work of separating +from the quarry, of shaping, of transporting to a distance, and +elevating to a proper height, the huge blocks of stone with which the +Mexicans and Peruvians contrived to erect their temples and other +public edifices!--structures that have commanded the admiration of +more modern nations. What toil and what time must have been expended +in the operation of dividing a single block, by means of continued +rubbing of one rock against another! What pains and what efforts of +ingenuity must it have cost the artizans of Montezuma, without the aid +of nails, to form the ceilings of his palace, by an arrangement of the +planks so artificial, as mutually to sustain each other! With what +eagerness the Peruvian would have accepted nails of iron, to fasten +together the pieces of timber he employed in building, and have laid +aside as worthless, the cords of hemp his necessities compelled him to +apply to that purpose! What an acquisition would have been even a +common needle, in the place of the thorn, to which, in the fashioning +of their cotton garments, they were obliged to have recourse! + +Iron differs from the metals we have mentioned as earliest known, by +its occurring rarely in a metallic state, and being then most +difficult of fusion: its uses were in consequence a later discovery. +The methods, besides, of disengaging it from the ores in which it is +usually found in nature, are far from being obvious, consisting of +various processes,--such as pounding, roasting, smelting in contact +with charcoal, to render it fusible; requiring too, additional +heatings and hammerings to render it malleable, and a still more +complicated process to convert it into steel. Yet it was in use, as +has been remarked, in very remote ages: Moses, in Deuteronomy, makes +frequent mention of it. He speaks of mines of iron, and alludes to +furnaces for melting it; and from the circumstance of swords, knives, +axes, and tools for cutting stone, constructed of that metal, being +mentioned by the same authority, we are entitled to conclude that the +art of tempering and converting it into steel was also known. The mode +of tempering it was certainly known to the Greeks as early as the days +of Homer; for that poet borrows from the art some of his similes. Thus +in the Oddyssey: + + And as, when arm'rers temper in the ford + The keen-edged pole-axe, or the shining sword, + The red hot metal hisses in the lake, + So in his eye-ball hiss'd the plunging stake. + +It is by its conversion into steel, that we are furnished with a +material retentive of an edge, and adapted to cutting the hardest +substances, and are enabled to fabricate that most important class of +implements, edge-tools, all of which, from the ponderous pit saw to +the finest lancet, are formed in part with this metal. + +It was not, however, until very late in modern times, that we may be +said to have acquired absolute dominion over this individual of the +mineral kingdom, so as to be able at command, to press it into +service, whatever may be its locality, in relation to the surface of +the earth or its interior. For, before the improvements made in the +steam-engine by the discoveries of Watts, we were limited in the power +of availing ourselves of the known existence of iron, however abundant +in any particular spot, by the necessity of the concurrence of a +stream of water in the same location with that of the metal, as a +means of impelling the machinery for producing the blast requisite in +the operation of smelting. Since those improvements, steam power may +be employed wherever the ore and fuel is found in sufficient +quantities to authorize the erection of furnaces; and the manufacture +of iron has in consequence, especially in Great Britain, risen into +great importance. The annual produce of smelted ore in that kingdom, +is estimated now to be about seven hundred thousand tons. + +We cannot avoid suggesting here, to the owners and workers of coal +property in Virginia, the propriety of investigating the strata +through which they necessarily pass in their mining operations, with +reference to the discovery of argillaceous iron-stone, with more +minuteness than hitherto they have done--if indeed, (which we are +inclined to doubt,) their attention has been in any degree directed to +such examination. It is from this species of iron-stone, accompanying +coal-strata, that Great Britain derives at least nineteen twentieths +of the metals which she possesses in such abundance, and to which, in +connection with its convenient location in the immediate vicinity of +the fuel necessary in its reduction, she owes her towering eminence as +a manufacturing country. The coal formation of Virginia contains the +same clays, shales, sandstones and slates, and these are characterized +by the same vegetable impressions that mark the series in other +countries. And may we not reasonably ask, why should we hastily +conclude this usual concomitant of the coal strata in England, +Scotland, France and Germany, to be wanting here; or rather, why may +not we hope to find it equally abundant in our own coal district. We +are induced to urge this suggestion the more, from the circumstance, +that this species of ore presents in its external characters, so +little indicative of its metallic nature or chemical composition, that +but for its greater weight, it might well escape the notice of an +inexperienced or unobservant eye, unless arrested by some such hope as +we have been induced to hold out. Even in England, where from its +great abundance it might have been expected to be generally better +known, instances have occurred in some districts, of its being +wastefully misapplied, through ignorance, to the common purpose of +mending the roads. The immense benefits that would result from success +attending a research directed to this object, as well to the city of +Richmond, as to a few fortunate individuals, are too obvious to +require comment. It is sufficient to remark, that it would prove an +abundant source of individual wealth, and would, in connection with +her other great advantages and increasing facilities of +transportation, be the means of elevating the metropolis of Virginia +to an exalted rank in the class of large cities, and enable her to vie +in importance with the proudest seat of manufactures, or the most +extensive emporium of commerce. + +It was our intention, as our title announces, to have passed rapidly +on, and glanced at the history, uses, and national importance of coal, +and some of the most valuable of the other mineral substances, as well +as to have pointed out in a short series of remarks, some of the +advantages to be derived from the cultivation and pursuit of +mineralogical and geological inquiries in connection with this +subject; but we have loitered on the way, and the contracting limits +of our paper admonish us to hasten to a close. We may at another time, +if leisure permit, and if on reflection, we deem our endeavors at all +likely to attract attention to subjects which have too long been +almost universally neglected, again resume, after our own fashion, a +subject which under better management, could not fail to prove +interesting as well as instructive. + +GAMMA. + +_Henrico, April 28th, 1835_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LETTERS FROM A SISTER. + +LETTER ELEVENTH. + +Malmaison, Tomb of the Ex-Empress Josephine--Engine for Conveying +Water to Versailles and St. Cloud--St. Germain en Laye--Nanterre--St. +Geneviéve. + + +PARIS, ----. + +_Dear Jane:_ + +Although quite fatigued, I cannot retire to rest ere I have rendered +my dear sister an account of to-day's excursion to St. Germain and to +Malmaison the favorite residence of the late Ex-Empress Josephine. We +took an early breakfast, and sat off by ten o'clock; the Danvilles in +their carriage, accompanied by Sigismund, and we in a remise, or, as +it is termed in England, a glass coach. We soon alighted at Malmaison, +it being only two leagues from Paris, and spent more than an hour in +walking over the house and grounds, and thinking of poor Josephine. A +great deal of the furniture yet remains as she left it; even her music +books are kept as she arranged them. The room she occupied as her +chamber, is exceedingly beautiful. It is circular, lined with cloth of +crimson and gold, and surrounded by mirrors inserted in the walls and +doors. The bed is supported by golden swans, and the coverlid and +curtains are of silver lama. In the library we saw the writing table +and inkstand of Napoleon. The first bears evident marks of his +penknife; which, while meditating, he used to strike into the wood. +The domestic who conducted us through the apartments, spoke of the +Ex-Empress with great affection; and so did the gardener, a West India +negro, whose ebony visage was a novel spectacle to us. They said she +was beloved by all the household and neighborhood, for her affability +and kindness. The green house is filled with gay and choice flowers +and shrubs; and it is melancholy to reflect that these the frailest +productions of nature, have outlived their lovely mistress, and still +blossom and flourish and shed their fragrance around, while she, like +a shadow has passed away! After following awhile the windings of a +stream that meanders through the garden, we found ourselves at the +threshold of a pretty little temple dedicated to Cupid. The +mischievous urchin himself, treading upon roses, is placed in the +centre, and on the pedestal beneath him, this vindictive couplet is +inscribed: + + Il l'est, le fut, ou le doit être, + Qui que ce soit, voici ton Maitre. + +We quitted the shades of Malmaison with regret, and proceeded to the +neighboring village of Ruelle to visit the tomb of Josephine in the +church there, where her ashes repose. The monument is of white marble, +and was erected to her memory by Eugene Beauharnais, her son. On its +summit she is represented clad in a folding robe with a diadem on her +head, and kneeling before an open breviary. It is a handsome tribute +of filial love. + +Near Ruelle is a chateau that once belonged to Cardinal Richelieu, and +since then to Marshal Massena, whose widow still inhabits it.[1] Being +informed that the family were absent and that it was customary for +strangers to visit this sojourn of those distinguished men, we drove +there; and, alighting from our carriages, were demanding permission of +a person in the yard to see the mansion and its grounds, when a lady +suddenly made her appearance, and we had the mortification to find +that we were intruding on the privacy of Madame Massena herself. We +immediately explained our mistake, and would have come away but she +insisted on our entering, and was so polite that we could not refuse. +The chateau is very plain, and furnished with corresponding +simplicity. In front of it is a limpid sheet of water, and behind it a +pleasant garden, where we wandered awhile and then took leave, +gratified with our adventure, awkward as it was at the commencement. + +[Footnote 1: This lady is since dead. She died soon afterwards.] + +Retracing our steps a short distance, we continued our ride to Saint +Germain en Laye, and observed on our left a stupendous steam engine +which, on inquiry, we found is used for supplying the fountains of +Versailles and Saint Cloud with water from the Seine, and has +succeeded the famous machine of Marly. This machine had become so +decayed in some parts before its removal, that it occasioned the death +of several persons who were examining its construction--and heedlessly +stepped on an old board, which giving way they were precipitated into +the river and drowned, or crushed to death by the wheels. Saint +Germain en Laye derives its name from the extensive forest adjoining +it, which is considered the finest in France, and has ever been the +favorite hunting ground of the French monarchs. While partaking of the +pleasures of the chase they inhabited the spacious palace, that still +exists and is at present a barracks for soldiers. That abject king +James the Second, resided in it twelve years, supported by the +munificence of Louis le grand, and finally closed his earthly career +in this noble retreat. He was buried in the adjoining church, and his +heart is enshrined in a paltry looking altar, before which a lamp is +constantly burning, and upon which is an inscription informing the +reader why it was erected. But what renders the palace at Saint +Germain peculiarly interesting, is its having been the residence of +the Duchess de la Vallière; and in the ceiling of one of the rooms +appropriated to her use there is a trap door, through which it is +supposed her enamored sovereign descended when he visited her +clandestinely. On the left of the castle is a terrace one mile in +length, and bordering an acclivity that overhangs the Seine, and is +highly cultivated in vineyards and fruit trees. This terrace is much +frequented by persons who resort there, for the purpose of enjoying +fresh air and a fine prospect. Some go in carriages, but the usual +mode of conveyance is by a donkey, and this we chose. The streets of +the town are wide and the houses generally large; which might be +expected, as court festivities were so often held here; and +now-a-days, many of the Parisian gentry pass the summer months here. + +We finished the day by dining at a neat auberge, (inn) with a garden +teeming with flowers just in front of our parlor. Returning home we +passed through the village of Nanterre, (the birthplace of St. +Geneviéve) and stopped an instant to buy some of the cakes for which +it is renowned; they are merely buns, and we did not think them +deserving of their fame. _Nanterre beer_ and _Nanterre sausages_ are +also held in great estimation, but of these we did not taste, being +quite satisfied with our trial of the cakes. I imagine you know the +history of St. Geneviéve; though lest you should not, I will tell you +in a few words that she was a shepherdess, whose virtues and piety +caused her to be canonized after her death, and made the patron saint +of Paris. There is a lovely picture of her at the Louvre, by Pierre +Guerin, representing her turning a spindle while guarding her flock. +Good night. + +LEONTINE. + + * * * * * + +LETTER TWELFTH. + +Lafayette and his Family--Sévres Manufactory--Palace of St. +Cloud--Madame de Genlis--Savoyards--Ballet of Mars and Venus. + + +Paris, -----. + +_Dear Jane:_-- + +We have formed acquaintance with some delightful characters since I +wrote to you a few days since. We have been introduced to the good and +brave General Lafayette and his family! On Wednesday he came with his +son, Mr. George Lafayette, to see Mr. Danville, and the latter +presented us to them. The print you have seen of this distinguished +patriarch, is a correct likeness; and his manners are as benevolent as +his countenance. He has a soirée on every Wednesday night, and we have +gladly accepted the kind and pressing invitation he gave each of us to +attend them. The ladies of the family, consisting of his daughters, +his grand-daughters, and daughter-in-law Madame G. Lafayette, have +also called, and we find them very amiable and pleasing. We have +likewise had an introduction to Madame de Genlis, for which we are +indebted to Mrs. Danville; who, rightly conjecturing it would be +gratifying to us to know this celebrated lady, and being well +acquainted with her, requested her permission to present us to her. +This was readily granted, and this morning appointed for the visit. +Accordingly, after an early ride to the Sévres manufactory of +porcelain and the palace of Saint Cloud, the most splendid of all the +king's habitations, we repaired to her residence. On arriving we were +conducted up stairs by a tidy looking _femme de chambre_ and ushered +through a small bed-room, plainly furnished, into an apartment that, +from the variety of its contents, might be compared to Noah's ark. +Besides the usual appendages of a parlor, it contained a piano, a +harp, a guitar, a folding screen, and several tables loaded with +books, papers, baskets and boxes, &c. We found the venerable authoress +seated in an arm chair, near the window. Her regular and delicate +features and fair skin, still indicate former beauty. Her nose is +aquiline, and her eyes clear blue; as they are weak, she is obliged to +wear a green shade to protect them from the light, but has never yet +found it necessary to use spectacles: this is astonishing, for she +will be eighty-two on the 25th of next January! She wore a black silk +gown, and a simple muslin cap; and when Mrs. Danville introduced us +she offered her hand to each, and as soon as we were seated entered +into conversation with a degree of vivacity that quite surprised us; +we were still more so, at her vanity. She talked a great deal about +her own works, and in their praise! We asked her if she continued to +play on the harp. "Oh oui! très bien!" she replied. "And on the piano +and the guitar, Madame?" "Oh, oui, tout, tout, très bien!" She told us +she often practised on the harp and composed in prose at the same +time; and that while reciting verses aloud in a distinct voice and +with strict attention to punctuation and emphasis, she could read a +page from any author and then recount to you in regular rotation, +every idea therein expressed; and this proved, she said, that the mind +is capable of two operations at once. Papa observed that Charles the +Twelfth of Sweden, proved it a century ago, when he played chess while +dictating letters to different persons. She did not notice this +remark, but proceeded to extol a novel she wrote some years since, +entitled "Alfred the Great." She considers it one of her best +productions, and gave it to a physician who attended her during a +dangerous illness and declined being paid for his services. She said +she thought she could not compliment him more, than by making him a +present of her work; that he seemed delighted with it, and declared he +would have it published immediately, but that much to her regret he +had not kept his promise. Alfred is her favorite hero, and she +expressed her wonder that he is not often made the subject of a +romance. She informed us that she always retires to bed at half past +ten o'clock and rises at seven, and is careful to eat very moderately. +Her faculties continue perfect, and she knows fifty-two trades; such +as sewing, knitting, spinning, embroidering, making baskets, weaving +purses, &c. &c. We saw on the chimney-piece a snuff box that +Mademoiselle d'Orleans, her _ci-devant_ pupil, had sent to her. On the +lid she had painted a harp entwined with a garland of flowers, and +below it this sentence was written: "C'est votre ouvrage." Having sat +with her two hours we took leave, and had quitted the room, when she +called us back to show us with what ease she could rise from her chair +without resting her hands on the arms of it to aid herself, as old +people are commonly obliged to do. She has invited us to call on her +whenever we can, and was so polite as to say she felt quite flattered +by our visit. + +On reaching home we found Mr. Danville and Leonora much diverted at +the exploit of a monkey that had climbed in at the window, and ere +they perceived it, twitched from Leonora's hand a bunch of raisins she +was eating. It was the property of a little Savoyard, who had taught +it a variety of tricks in order to gain a few sous by their +exhibition. The Boulevard abounds with these little wanderers, and +their marmosets. + +This evening we are going to a fête at the Tivoli Garden; the _New_ +Tivoli as it is called; the old one (which I am told was far +handsomer) has been converted into ground for building. We have seen +the Ballet of Mars and Venus, at the grand opera; nothing can be more +beautiful and splendid than it is! Leaving it for your imagination to +fancy, I subscribe myself your affectionate + +LEONTINE. + + * * * * * + +LETTER THIRTEENTH. + +Fête at Tivoli--The Catacombs--Cemetery of Montmartre--Abattoirs--Lady +Morgan--Mrs. Opie--A Quaker Meeting. + + +Paris, ----. + +_Dear Jane:_ + +We were much entertained at Tivoli. The garden was brightly +illuminated, and all sorts of amusements went on; and what a variety +of these the French have, and with what zest they partake of them! We +did our part very well too. We swung, we rode on wooden horses, we +sailed in ships, looked at a cosmorama, witnessed a phantasmagoria, +rope dancing and fire works, a play performed by puppets, and some +metamorphoses of little paste board figures, that were quite +wonderful; for instance:--a tiny lion was changed, as if by magic, +into a cupid driving a car drawn by swans, a young lady into a basket +of flowers, a butterfly into a beau, &c. &c. These transfigurations, I +think, must be produced in the following manner: Two different objects +are painted on a bit of pasteboard, one on the back and the other on +the front of it; the pasteboard is then folded into the shape of one +of them, and threads, too fine to be visible at a moderate distance, +attached to it; after exhibiting the first figure a sufficient time, +the threads are pulled and the pasteboard adroitly turned round and +thrown open, thus displaying the second figure, to the form of which +its edges are trimmed. As no person was visible, the threads were +undoubtedly passed through the scenes of the miniature stage into the +hand of the skilful operator,--for skilful he or she was who conducted +the business. When tired of strolling we entered a fine café, situated +in the centre of the garden, and refreshed ourselves with ice creams; +afterwards, attracted by the sound of music, we repaired to an open +space, where an orchestra was erected and a band of musicians were +playing quadrilles for a party of beaux and belles, who danced away +merrily, not on the _turf_ but in the sand; they were, however, so +inspired by the tones of violins and clarionets, that they moved along +as if on a board floor. + +You will wonder, perhaps, how we sailed in ships without the aid of +wind or tide! I will tell you. Two poles, with a little ship suspended +by a rope from each end, were placed crosswise on a pivot, and turned +as rapidly as you chose, carrying you round and round in the air, with +an undulating motion, not dissimilar to that of a vessel at sea, and +so unpleasant to our feelings that we soon _disembarked_. This +diversion is termed "les Espagnolettes." The wooden horses are +arranged in like manner, except that they are firmly fixed on the ends +of the poles, and consequently, in riding on them you do not +experience the sickening, waving motion. The machine for swinging, is +denominated a "Balancoir." This also consists of a couple of beams +placed athwart each other, with chairs attached to their ends, which +are thrown alternately up and down. Several parties, as they glided +round on the wooden horses, amused themselves by trying to pass a +stick through a large ring which was held towards them by a woman +mounted on a bench. Whenever a ring was caught and borne off, it was +instantly replaced by another, until one of the competitors had +obtained _five_ and thus won the game. I must now change my theme and +inform you of our disappointment as respects seeing the catacombs. +They are closed at present by order of the government--I _believe_ on +account of the danger there is in visiting them. We have been to the +"cemetery of Montmartre," or "Field of Repose," as it is likewise +styled. It is of much older date than "Pére la Chaise," but not so +extensive, nor does it contain such handsome monuments; there are +however some shady, melancholy dells and moss covered tombs, that +render it peculiarly interesting. Vestris the celebrated dancer and +Very the chief of Restaurateurs, are buried there. From the cemetery +we proceeded to the "Abattoir," or "Slaughter-house of Montmartre;" an +establishment of this kind is erected in every department of the city. +Within them the butchers exercise their sanguinary functions, and the +expense of them is defrayed by taxes on the animals that are killed. +They are kept in the neatest order and composed of numerous buildings, +each of which is appropriated to a particular branch of the business. +In one the poor animals are knocked in the head; and there is a +receptacle for the blood, which trickles into it through furrows made +in the floor: in a second the carcase is skinned: in a third +quartered: in a fourth the entrails are separated and cleansed: in a +fifth the fat is boiled in an immense kettle. There are besides +spacious tables, where the unconscious victims are sheltered and amply +supplied with food and straw, while awaiting their fate. It made me +quite sad to behold them eating and reposing so calmly, and then to +think of their bloody destiny! The "Abattoirs" are liberally watered +and often washed, and therefore no disagreeable odour is perceptible +about them. I wish our butchers would follow the example of their +French brethren as regards these places! + +We had the gratification of meeting with Lady Morgan last night at +Madame B----'s. Mamma had a great deal of conversation with her and +found her extremely affable and agreeable. You know we were told she +was ugly--we do not think her so, but she certainly dresses too +girlishly, rouges too highly and seems too desirous of admiration. +This cannot be said of Mrs. Opie, to whom we were also introduced. She +was as plain in her attire as a dark grey silk gown and a white muslin +kerchief and cap could make her. In her manners she is unaffected, in +her conversation animated and intelligent. Her countenance is open and +expressive of her lively mind. The moment we beheld her we recognized +her as a lady we had seen at a quaker meeting which we attended from +motives of curiosity on Sunday. A quaker meeting in Paris! you will +exclaim. Even so my dear, for what is there on the face of the earth +(that depends not on _soil_ or _climate_) which may not be found in +this bustling capital? The meeting was held in a house in the Champs +Elysèes, belonging to a quaker family with whom Mr. D. was acquainted, +and who gave him a cheerful permission to bring with him whenever he +wished it, any friends desirous of going there. We were shewn into a +neat parlor, where about twenty persons were sitting in solemn +silence, and for nearly an hour not a sound was heard, save the +occasional sneezes of an old lady who had a violent cold in her head. +At length however the spirit moved a dark eyed gentleman and he gave +us a tolerable sermon. I conclude with love from all of us to +yourself, aunt M. and Albert, and to our relations and friends in the +vicinity of Morven Lodge. I have not always room for affectionate +messages, or be assured they would always be inserted. + +LEONTINE. + + * * * * * + +LETTER FOURTEENTH. + +Soirée at General Lafayette's--Benjamin Constant--Messrs. Perrier, +Laffitte and Ternaux, &c.--"Conservatory of Arts and +Trades"--Diorama--Georama--Neorama--"Royal Printing +Office"--Manufactory of Plate Glass--Hospital of the Quinze +Vingts--Castle of Vincennes--Fountain of the Elephant--Franconi's +Circus--The Duchess of Berri's children. + + +PARIS, ----. + +_Dear Jane:_ + +Another busy week of pleasure and amusement has glided by since you +have heard from us, and two evenings of it have been spent at two +delightful soirées. The first at Madame de N----'s, the second at the +gallant old General Lafayette's, in the rue d'Anjou; where he has a +suite of small and neat apartments illuminated for the reception of +his expected guests on every Tuesday evening. We made our debut there +about 9 o'clock and found them crowded. Among the throng were many +celebrated and interesting personages, for the worthy and enlightened +of all nations seem ever ready to do homage to the virtuous patriarch +of Lagrange. At his soirées the greatest ease prevails--the +refreshments are simple and plentiful, and in compliment to the +Americans and English, tea is always served, a custom not practised +among the French. We again saw Sir Charles and Lady Morgan and Mrs. +Opie, with whom by the bye we have exchanged visits. Then there was +the orator Benjamin Constant, a pale, thin man, with light blue eyes +and snowy hair, looking as if he were far on his passage to the next +world. He was environed by a crowd of gentlemen, to whom he was +speaking very earnestly with a great deal of gesture. Not far from him +we observed other stars of the Chamber of Deputies, and these were +Messieurs Casimir Perrier, Laffitte and Ternaux, whose countenances +bespeak their noble minds. Monsieur Ternaux has introduced here and +carries on the manufacture of cashmere shawls, and they not only equal +those of India in tints and texture, but surpass them in the beauty +and richness of the borders. To him also is attributed the discovery +of the art of stamping patterns in relief on cloth table covers, &c. +In the next room, we saw Mr. Cooper, the American novelist, and his +lady--the two Miss P----'s, cousins of Lord Byron and Mr. and Mrs. +----. She is the daughter of Gen. Bertrand, and a beautiful creature +she is. The lovely countess d'A---- was sitting near her. She is the +sister of Madame George Lafayette, and is an intelligent and +fascinating woman. She called here yesterday with Madame Lasteyrie and +her daughters. + +It is now time to speak of some of the curiosities of Paris to which +we have recently been devoting our mornings. I believe the +"conservatory of arts and trades" stands first on the list. It is also +termed the "museum of industry," and is a collection of all sorts of +machines and models, patterns and specimens of things that French +genius and labor have produced; for the government obliges every +Frenchman to deposit here a sample or model of whatever he improves or +invents, and to accompany it with an account of its manufacture or +construction. Besides several halls exhibiting machines and models, +there are others filled with specimens of porcelain, glass, stone +ware, lace, silks, ribbons, tapestry, colored and stamped paper, +scissors, knives, fans, watches, clocks, lamps and a thousand other +articles. One of the halls contains a number of _miniature_ buildings, +representing sundry manufactories. They are open in front, and display +in different apartments the various processes of each business and the +implements required in it, not omitting the most trifling tool. +Another hall contains a library of 10,000 volumes, written in almost +every language, and treating on subjects connected with the purport of +the establishment--and professors of geometry and natural philosophy +give lectures there to such pupils as are recommended by the minister +of the interior. Would it not be shameful if the French nation did not +rapidly progress in the arts and sciences, when the government is so +liberal in encouraging them, by affording those persons who possess +talents every advantage gratuitously, so that the poor may rise as +well as the rich, if blessed with abilities? Among the patterns of +tapestry is one concerning which a droll story is related, viz. that +Vaucanson, a skilful mechanic, being offended with the inhabitants of +Lyons for undervaluing some looms he had invented, tied an ass to one +of them and made him execute the piece of embroidery from which this +specimen was cut, and which excelled any _they_ had ever done. + +We have also visited the Diorama, the Georama and the Neorama, the +royal printing office, the manufactory of plate glass and the hospital +of the "Quinze Vingts." A diorama you have seen. A georama is a +panoramic representation of the earth with its divisions of land and +water; the spectator standing in the centre. A neorama is a painting +so ingeniously designed and arranged, as to produce the illusion of +your being within whatever building it represents. The one we saw is a +picture of the interior of St. Peter's at Rome, and Mr. Dorval who has +been there says it is an exact copy. The royal printing office is an +establishment of great magnitude. There is a vast collection of types +and several hundred presses. We were informed that Pope Pius VII +visited this office during his sojourn in Paris, and that while he was +there the Lord's prayer was printed in no less than 150 languages and +presented to him. At the plate glass manufactory we beheld mirrors of +wonderful magnitude. The plates are cast at Cherbourg and at St. +Gobin, (a castle in the department of Aisne) and sent here to be +quick-silvered and polished. Eight hundred workmen are constantly +employed in the business. The French are indebted to the great Colbert +for this establishment; prior to its foundation plate glass could only +be had by sending for it to Venice. Having satisfied our curiosity +here, we proceeded to the hospital of the "Quinze Vingts," founded by +St. Louis in 1220 for the maintenance of 300 blind--a larger number is +now admitted. It was customary in the age of St. Louis to count by +twenties, and there being 15 twenties in 300 this institution derived +its appellation from having that number of pensioners. We were pleased +with the neatness and comfort that reigned, and arrived there just in +time to hear a class of the blind sing and play; for those who evince +a talent for music are instructed in it. The women were the vocalists +and the men performed on various instruments. Even the leader was +sightless! They kept time very well and we enjoyed their concert +exceedingly, though the distorted faces some made while singing were +horrible. They are taught a variety of trades, and not only reading +but the art of printing, and we saw a man arrange the types and print +several words with both skill and quickness. The types were extremely +large and made of wood, and no ink was used in the operation, but the +letters pressed on the paper, so as to leave the traces of them +perceptible to the slightest touch. + +On Wednesday we went to the castle of Vincennes, a gothic fortress, +about three miles from the city. It contains the state prisons and an +armory. A note to the commandant, from Mr. Warden, the American +Ex-Consul and a kind friend of the Danvilles, gained us admission, and +we spent two hours in examining the castle within whose gloomy +turrets, nobles and monarchs have sighed in captivity. The celebrated +Mirabeau was a prisoner there during four years, and there wrote his +letters between Gabriel and Sophie. The duke d'Enghien was shot in a +moat of this castle--the spot where the execution took place is +designated by a willow tree and a black column, bearing this +inscription, "Here he fell." In the chapel is a handsome mausoleum +enclosing his ashes. Returning from Vincennes we stopped on the _Place +de la Bastille_ (once occupied by that terrific building) to view the +model of the fountain of the Elephant. It is of plaster, and 72 feet +high! A tower on the animal's back is to serve as a reservoir for the +water which is to flow from the proboscis, and one of the legs is to +contain the stair case leading to the tower. The whole mass is to be +of bronze, but it is doubtful if this grand fountain will ever be +made; it was one of Napoleon's gigantic designs, which adversity and +death prevented his accomplishing. Last night we witnessed the wonder +of an Elephant acting a part in a play at the Cirque Olympique, a +theatre of the same description as that of Astley's in London. The +house was crowded almost to suffocation, and the docile and +astonishing creature excited universal admiration by her performance. +She is called "Mam'selle Dyjeck," is a native of the island of Ceylon, +and was purchased from some Indian jugglers by Monsieur Huguet her +present owner. She is so attached to him that she shews evident +distress if he is long absent from her, and extreme delight when he +returns. If he be fatigued or indisposed, it is said that she even +undresses him, puts him to bed and watches by him while he rests. +Travellers I know are expected to exaggerate, but I assure you I am +not availing myself of the privilege in the present instance. The play +was entitled "l'Elephant du roi de Siam," and was written expressly to +exhibit the address and sagacity of M'lle Dyjeck, who really acted +throughout as if she were a human being. At the close of the +performance the audience vociferated for her re-appearance, and after +a few moments elapsed the curtain was raised and the _royal lady_ came +forth proudly tossing her trunk. She advanced to the edge of the stage +and made three courtesies, retreating all the while, and looking round +on the spectators as she rose, until she had sufficiently receded, she +walked off amidst a roar of applause. It was quite an inspiring scene. +The Duchess of Berri and her suite were present. + +Apropos--Madame F. lately gave us a most interesting account of her +Highness' children, the little Duke of Bordeaux and M'lle Louise. She +says they are both remarkably amiable and _le petit Duc_ holds a levee +daily, is dressed _en militaire_ and assumes all the airs of a grown +gentleman. He is so proud of his sword, that the severest penalty his +tutor can inflict, when he misbehaves, is to deprive him of it. He is +a pretty boy--we have often met him taking an airing in his coach and +four, surrounded by gens d'armes, for the Bourbons are so unpopular +that for fear of his sharing the fate of his father, he is always +strongly guarded whenever he appears in public. He pays dearly for his +lineage, poor little fellow! and I never see him without thinking +sorrowfully of the probability of his perishing by the ruthless hand +of an assassin. But mercy! what a packet. Have patience dearest! with +your + +LEONTINE. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LINES + +In recollection of Thomas H. White, who died at Richmond, Va. October +7, 1832, aged 19 years. + + + Was it a dream? It has pass'd away + As vanish dreams at the rising day,-- + That graceful form, from the Saco's side, + That loved the leap of its dashing tide, + And watched full long, in the mild Moon's ray, + The rainbow tints of the rising spray. + + Fair was that form; and the feature's glow, + True to the pulse of the Heart's warm flow, + Heighten'd at thought of those friends afar, + Who the aspect watched of his rising star; + With fervent prayer that that star might shed + Benignant influence upon his head. + + With heart as joyous, and foot as light + As the wild young roe, he scaled the height-- + The crystal sought in its mountain-bed, + And the fragrant wild flowers gathered; + Nature he loved in her freakish mood-- + And sought her, deep in her solitude. + + * * * * * + + He is not now where the rapids play, + Or moonlight tinctures the rising spray; + Nor like the roe on the craggy height, + With heart as gay, and a foot as light;-- + Did he hear the howl of the frost-god nigh, + And fly like the Birds to his native sky? + + His native sky?--Ah! it brightly glows-- + It cheers the bird and it scents the rose; + It wakes all nature to songs of joy-- + _But it smiles all vainly on thee, sweet Boy!_ + They laid, who loved thee, all lone and deep, + On the James' green shore, in thy last, long sleep! + + Yes! 'twas a dream of Life's dreamy day! + Beautiful, fleeting, and vain as they! + Dreams of the heart, the mind, the eye, + Belov'd, how dearly!--how soon to fly! + They fade, they vanish, e'er dawns the morrow, + And the heart is left to its night of sorrow. + +ELIZA. + +_Saco, Maine_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +TO SPRING.[1] + + + Not since the world's first blushing Spring + Hath warmer, truer offering + Than mine, by minstrel, muse, or maid, + Been on thy rose-wreathed altar laid. + + May-flower, the first in Flora's band, + I've snatch'd from thy half-open'd hand, + And help'd the little Daisy shake + From her bright head the light snow-flake; + + I've watch'd thee while thy crayon spread + The first tint on the Violet's head, + And wrapt with pleasure, scan'd the grace + Thy light touch threw o'er Nature's face-- + + But more I love thee for thy promise bright, + That Man shall spring, revived from Death's cold, wintry night. + +ELIZA. + +_Saco, Maine._ + +[Footnote 1: On the warm banks of the James, this Apostrophe to Spring +may probably appear altogether too late for the season, but on the +banks of the Saco, where a good fire is still necessary to comfort, +and the May-flower, the most daring of our wild flowers, is just +putting forth its blossom in token of _approaching_ Spring, it is +quite early enough.] + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +SPRING. + + + Rude Winter's surly storms are gone-- + Spring, in her joy, is passing on: + Beneath her light and magic tread, + Each flow'ret lifts its gentle head: + Streamlets, so long in fetters bound, + Leap with a glad, reviving sound: + Valleys and hills, so long unseen, + Glow with a rich and silv'ry green: + The Robin's wild and thrilling note, + The silence of the grove, has broke: + The Bee, for months, in bondage held, + Wakes her hum in the wonted field: + The Horse and Ox their stalls forsake, + In leaping streams, their thirst to slake;-- + To seek, on mountain-side and plain, + The feast, that Nature spreads again. + Nymph, with the sweetly-laughing eye! + Where dost thou dwell, when o'er the sky, + The murky storms of Winter scowl, + And through the leafless valleys howl;-- + That thou, the moment they are gone, + Doth, lovely still, come tripping on? + Go on, upon thy blooming way! + I know thou wilt not, canst not, stay; + But oft, as on your course you wind, + Oh! cast a "ling'ring look behind!" + +ROY. + +_Lovingston, April 1, 1835_. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger + +TO A. L. B. + +Author of "_Trust Not_," in the Messenger for February. + + + Scorn not the love of the gentle one! + Turn not away from the heart's devotion! + Still to its shrine may'st thou be won, + And thy bosom be stirr'd with its gentle emotion. + + Spurn not that treasure! its worth is untold; + Bright gems are hid in its deep recesses;-- + Fear not that her bosom shall grow cold, + When the light is gone from her wavy tresses. + + There's a fountain of feeling pure and bright, + Which the glance of her eye is so gently revealing; + Like the twilight dawn of the Summer's light, + On the longing sight of the weary stealing. + + Trust to the love thou hast falsely disdain'd, + So shall the trusted deceive thee never; + Forget the scorn thou hast falsely claim'd, + And the star of thy breast shall be bright forever. + + Then come to "the hall of wine and song," + Where the spirit of beauty reposes, + And truth shall be crown'd by the shining throng, + With a garland of myrtle and roses! + +S. W. W. + +_Raleigh, N. C._ + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +SPRING. + + + To see thy tiny songsters rear + With wondrous skill, their home of love; + And hear each praise the other's care + In songs, that might be breathed above. + + To watch the modest flowret's growth, + The spotless type of love on earth + Which nightly droops, as though 'twere loath + To quit the breast that gave it birth; + + Or lay me down beside some brook, + Where I may muse the livelong day, + And drop my oft neglected book, + To dream of others far away. + + Such is the joy, the quiet bliss, + Of holding converse sweet with thee, + And wooing, still, thy favoring kiss + Midst nature's wilds, in fancy free. + + But I must bide within my room, + Content to breathe, alone, thy air, + And feel that it is double gloom, + Because thou art so lovely, there. + +A PRISONER. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +MR. T. W. WHITE. + +_Dear Sir:_--You have been so kind as to solicit something from my pen +for your interesting periodical. With great pleasure I transmit the +enclosed sheets, in the hope that you may find them suitable to the +Messenger. + +The subject I consider as particularly congenial with this delightful +season, which has been truly said to constitute the "great jubilee of +nature;" awakening our sympathy with young life, and drawing our +attention to the promise and hazards of the vegetable creation, amid +the cheerful labors of agriculture. + + Nunc omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos; + Nunc frondent sylvæ, nunc _formosissimus annus_. + +But I am sure that my subject has an interest, independent of the +delightful associations of the season at which I write, and that most +of your readers will be ever ready to exclaim in the gallant strain of +the _sweet_ Irish Bard, + + Oh woman! whose form and whose soul + Are the spell and the light of each path we pursue! + Whether sunn'd in the tropics, or chill'd at the pole, + If woman be there, there is happiness too! + +What I have written in this first number of my Dissertation, has +reference principally to what may be termed the _sentimental_ portion +of our nature. I must therefore beg of your readers, to suspend all +judgment as to the partiality or impartiality of the execution, until +I have drawn the whole picture. I am yet to compare the sexes +together, in relation to the intellectual powers. + +I am, sir, with high respect, + +Your obedient servant, + +Z. X. W. + +_May 12, 1835_. + + * * * * * + +DISSERTATION + +On the Characteristic Differences between the Sexes, and on the +Position and Influence of Woman in Society. + + +NO. I. + +When we survey with a philosophic eye the varied and complicated works +of nature, there is nothing upon which the mind rests with more +pleasure, than the contemplation of the harmony, the order, and the +unity of design, manifested throughout. The physical philosopher +points to the centripetal and centrifugal forces, to the annual and +diurnal revolutions of the earth, to the periodical return of the +seasons, the regular succession of day and night, to the laws of +cohesion and repulsion, and shows with pride the wondrous harmony +which exists in all the departments of the physical world, all working +and conspiring to one great end. The political economist delights to +look to the nations of the earth, composed of vast multitudes of +individuals; to scan the great variety of occupations which the +endless division of labor has generated, and to see how the almost +countless millions of inhabitants, although each one is busily and +selfishly engaged in the pursuit only of his own little narrow +schemes, are nevertheless, when we embrace the grand whole, working, +in as perfect harmony and accord, as if the spirit of unbounded wisdom +and universal philanthropy guided every head and touched every +heart.--While to the common observer, the great volume of the human +mind is uninteresting, with its pages confused and scattered like the +sybil leaves of antiquity, it becomes to the metaphysician who can +arrange and interpret it, a source of knowledge, of pleasure, and of +gratitude. He beholds the nice lineaments of feelings and +passions--observes the operations of our various intellectual powers +and faculties. He sees a beautiful harmony and unity of design in the +whole Ideal Republic; and finds with wonder and astonishment, that all +our passions, instincts and faculties are so nicely arranged in +relation to each other, that, like the bodies in our planetary system, +not one could be struck from existence without endangering the harmony +of the whole. Thus shall we find, look where we will, through the wide +range of nature's works, part corresponding to part, power to power, +mind to mind, and to matter too; and the whole moving forward with +that beautiful harmonious action, which at once demonstrates the +illimitable wisdom of the designer,--his benevolence and his +consistency. Among all these beautiful adaptations in the universe, +there is not one perhaps, which presents itself to the mind under a +more engaging, a more interesting aspect, than the relations of the +_sexes_. To increase and multiply, seems to be the great law of +animated creation; and the attractions by which the sexes are brought +together for the fulfilment of this universal law, are so many, so +complicate, and yet so beautiful and delightful, while shedding their +benign influence over the rugged journey through life, that it is +impossible to contemplate them, without an immediate acknowledgment of +their sublime harmony, and of the benevolent design of him who ordered +and established them. My mind of late has been more than usually +engaged in the contemplation of this subject; and to amuse my leisure +hours, I have determined to throw together, however loosely, some +thoughts on the constitutional differences between the sexes--to point +out the effects which those differences have produced upon their +moral, social and political characters--to show that the position of +woman in society is not an accidental one, but results from the law of +nature; and that the benign and powerful influence which she exerts +over the destiny of man, is due principally to that very state of +things which woman is so apt to condemn. From this investigation, we +cannot fail to see that a constant amelioration in her condition is +calculated to enlarge and diversify the pleasures of the whole human +family, while it urges forward with irresistible power, the march of +civilization. + +Whether there be any original natural differences between the sexes, +in a moral and intellectual point of view, is a question extremely +difficult to determine. Education has commenced, long before children +have arrived at that age and growth of intellect, which will enable +them to manifest with certainty their passions, propensities, tastes, +and mental powers. The wide intellectual and moral differences +existing among individuals similarly situated and similarly educated, +lead us to conclude that they have different original capacities and +dispositions. But so different is the education of the sexes--so +different is their position in society, that we cannot say with +certainty, whether their moral and intellectual differences are due +wholly to education, or partly to nature. The discussion of this +question I shall waive, as not being of much importance to the view +which I propose to take of the subject, and shall proceed to show how +the education of the two sexes is calculated to produce the +differences which we observe among them, and how their relative +positions in society are the results of the force of circumstances, +and not of accident, as some have most ingeniously contended; and this +I hope to be enabled to show, even upon the supposition of perfect +_intellectual equality_ between the sexes at birth. + +Before entering upon this subject, it is proper to state, that I use +the word _education_ in its most extended sense,--to mean not only the +moral and intellectual discipline which we derive from our parents and +teachers, but to include the influence of physical organization, of +the physical circumstances by which we are surrounded, of opinion--in +fine, all those influences which are extraneous to the mind itself, +but capable of forming and directing it. There is both a physical and +moral education, to which we are constantly subjected, from birth to +manhood, entirely independent of professed teachers, which perhaps +exercises the greatest sway in the formation of our characters. Most +persons are apt to forget, in the calculation of character, the effect +of physical circumstances; but these must never be lost sight of. +Physics govern morals, to a certain extent, all over the world. It is +impossible to withdraw ourselves wholly from the influence of physical +causes. In the beautiful language of Mr. Allison, "Wander where we +will, trees wave, rivers flow, mountains ascend, clouds darken, or +winds animate the face of heaven; and over the whole scenery, the sun +sheds the cheerfulness of his morning, the splendor of his noonday, or +the tenderness of his evening light;--there is not one of these +features of scenery, which is not fitted to waken us to moral emotion; +to lead us, when once the key of our imagination is struck, to trains +of fascinating and endless imagery; and in the indulgence of them, to +make our bosoms either glow with conceptions of mental excellence, or +melt in the dreams of moral good. Even upon the man of the most +uncultivated taste, the scenes of nature have some inexplicable charm: +there is not a chord perhaps of the human heart, which may not be +awakened by their influence." Again, let us wander where we will, and +in vain shall we attempt to escape the moral influences which are +exerted around us. Opinions, manners, customs, fashions, &c. exercise +a silent, but potent sway, from which none can hope to be exempt. We +sometimes indulge the wish of flying from our native land, to escape +these influences in a foreign clime. How vain the wish! Go where we +will, the mighty spell is still laid over us--the enchantment is still +unbroken--and as long as man's nature remains unchanged, so long must +he be subject to the guidance and direction of that mighty physical +and moral machinery, which if ever at work around him, silently +developing and forming his character. These causes, in their all +pervading influences, may almost be considered as emblematical of the +omnipresence of the Divinity. In our remarks then, upon the +distinctive characteristics of the sexes, it is proper to commence +first with the operation of physical causes; and among these, without +doubt the difference of physical organization exercises the most +powerful influence--perhaps so powerful as to be itself sufficient to +account for all the characteristic differences between man and woman. +Of course, the remarks which follow, apply to the entire sexes, and +not to individual cases; for the individual female will frequently be +found to have all the masculine traits of character more perfectly +developed than the individual man. Few men, for example, can be +compared with an Edgeworth or De Stael in point of intellect--and few +have shown more persevering courage and masculine heroism, than Queen +Margaret of England, or Joan d'Arc of France; but these are specimens +from which we can draw no just conclusions concerning the entire sex. + + +_Physical Differences between the Sexes, and their Immediate Effects_. + +What then is the difference in physical organization? "Woman," says +Voltaire, "is in general less strong than man; smaller and less +capable of lasting labor. Her blood is more aqueous; her flesh less +firm; her hair longer; her limbs more rounded; her arms less muscular; +her mouth smaller; her hips more prominent, and her abdomen larger. +These physical points distinguish woman all over the earth, and of all +races, from Lapland unto the coast of Guinea, and from America to +China."[1] The physiologists all agree in the main points of +difference here asserted. They say that woman differs from man in the +whole of her lower stature--in the delicacy of her organization--in +the predominance of her lymphatic and cellular system, which softens +down the projections of the muscles, and gives to all her limbs those +rounded and graceful forms, of which we see in the Venus de Medicis +the inimitable model. "In woman, sensibility is also more exquisite; +and, with less strength, her mobility is greater. The female skeleton +even, is easily distinguished from that of the male, by striking +differences. The asperities of the bones are less prominent; the +clavicle is less curved; the chest shorter, but more expanded; the +sternum shorter, but wider; the pelvis more capacious,"[2] &c. +Comparing the sexes together then, all over the world, man appears to +be decidedly the stronger and better formed for war, for hard and +persevering labor; woman for retirement, for the mild and less +laborious occupations. The camp, the field, the woods, and the sea +seem to be the natural theatres for the display of man's powers. Woman +fills with peculiar grace, all the domestic occupations and sedentary +employments. In fact, the same amount of exercise is not necessary to +the preservation of her health, as for that of man. Hence she is more +naturally sedentary and quiet, and perhaps less industrious. Her +labor, in a purely politico-economical light, is universally +considered less valuable. The severer labors of cutting, mauling, +ditching, carpentry, masonry, &c. are performed by men. The management +of children, sewing, knitting, washing, &c. are performed most +frequently by women. The working in lace, Rousseau considered an +occupation particularly suited to a delicate modest female. He never +could exercise the slightest patience towards men tailors. The needle +and sword ought not to be managed by the same hands. In his _Emile_, +he says, "If I were sovereign, I would not permit sewing and the +occupations of the needle to any but women and lame men." + +[Footnote 1: See Phil. Dic. Vol. 6, Art. Woman.] + +[Footnote 2: Richerand's Physiology. Chapman and Goodman's Edition: p. +381.] + +Occupation produces a mighty influence on character. Women in all +countries will talk about their dresses and domestic matters: Men talk +of war, politics, horse-racing, field sports, and the labors of the +farm. At a very early period of life, we find the boy delighting in +his top, his bow and arrows, and his mimic wagon or cart. The girl +finds most pleasure in dolls, in pretty dresses and glittering toys, +which amuse her without much exertion on her part. "With what a +languid yawn," says Mary Woolstoncraft in her Rights of Woman, "have I +seen an admirable poem thrown down, that a man of true taste returns +to again and again with rapture; and whilst melody has almost +suspended respiration, a lady has asked me where I bought my gown." +And whilst the men converse about business, politics or literature, +"how naturally," says Swift, "do women apply their hands to each +other's lappets and ruffles." The learned lady whom I have just +referred to, might have saved herself a great deal of vexation and +pretended mortification, if she had only reflected, that difference in +occupation between the sexes is due principally to difference in +physical organization; and that the conversation of men and women will +always run more or less upon their occupations. Our very dreams are +but too frequently dictated by the occupations which engage us. Queen +Mab gallops + + "Through lover's brains, and then they dream of love; + On courtier's knees, that dream on court'sies straight; + O'er lawyer's fingers, who straight dream on fees. + And sometimes comes she with a tithe pig's tail, + Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep-- + Then dreams he of another benefice: + Sometimes she driveth o'er a soldier's neck, + And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats; + Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades; + Of healths five fathoms deep: and then anon + Drums in his ear--at which he starts and wakes; + And being thus frighten'd, swears a prayer or two, + And sleeps again." + + +_Relative Position of the Sexes in Society_. + +The relative position of the sexes in the social and political world, +may certainly be looked upon as the result of organization. The +greater physical strength of man, enables him to occupy the foreground +in the picture. He leaves the domestic scenes; he plunges into the +turmoil and bustle of an active, selfish world; in his journey through +life, he has to encounter innumerable difficulties, hardships and +labors which constantly beset him. His mind must be nerved against +them. Hence courage and boldness are his attributes. It is his +province, undismayed, to stand against the rude shocks of the world; +to meet with a lion's heart, the dangers which threaten him. He is the +shield of woman, destined by nature to guard and protect her. Her +inferior strength and sedentary habits confine her within the domestic +circle; she is kept aloof from the bustle and storm of active life; +she is not familiarized to the out of door dangers and hardships of a +cold and scuffling world: timidity and modesty are her attributes. In +the great strife which is constantly going forward around her, there +are powers engaged which her inferior physical strength prevents her +from encountering. She must rely upon the strength of others; man must +be engaged in her cause. How is he to be drawn over to her side? Not +by menace--not by force; for weakness cannot, by such means, be +expected to triumph over might. No! It must be by conformity to that +character which circumstances demand for the sphere in which she +moves; by the exhibition of those qualities which delight and +fascinate--which are calculated to win over to her side the proud lord +of creation, and to make him an humble suppliant at her shrine. Grace, +modesty and loveliness are the charms which constitute her power. By +these, she creates the magic spell that subdues to her will the more +mighty physical powers by which she is surrounded. Her attributes are +rather of a passive than active character. Her power is more +emblematical of that of divinity: it subdues without an effort, and +almost creates by mere volition;--whilst man must wind his way through +the difficult and intricate mazes of philosophy; with pain and toil, +tracing effects to their causes, and unravelling the deep mysteries of +nature--storing his mind with useful knowledge, and exercising, +training and perfecting his intellectual powers, whilst he cultivates +his strength and hardens and matures his courage; all with a view of +enabling him to assert his rights, and exercise a greater sway over +those around him. Woman we behold dependant and weak; but out of that +very weakness and dependance springs an irresistible power. She may +pursue her studies too--not however with a view of triumphing in the +senate chamber--not with a view to forensic display--not with a view +of leading armies to combat, or of enabling her to bring into more +formidable action the physical power which nature has conferred on +her. No! It is but the better to perfect all those feminine graces, +all those fascinating attributes, which render her the centre of +attraction, and which delight and charm all those who breathe the +atmosphere in which she moves; and, in the language of Mr. Burke, +would make ten thousand swords leap from their scabbards to avenge the +insult that might be offered to her. By her very meekness and beauty +does she subdue all around her. The Grecian poet of old has told us +where her power lies. + + "To woman what does nature give? + Beauty she gives instead of darts; + Beauty instead of shields imparts: + Nor can the fire nor sword oppose + The fair, victorious where she goes." + +We must recollect, however, that it is beauty of mind, of grace, of +accomplishment; and not beauty of person alone, which constitutes her +power. When the beautiful mother of mankind is described by the +matchless poet, he mentions not one _purely_ physical trait of beauty. + + "Grace was in all her steps; heaven in her eye: + In all her gestures dignity and love." + +When Juno too, tries the old and successful cheat of love with her +imperial husband, the poet of antiquity makes her borrow the beauties +of mind, rather than those of body. + + "The gentle vow, the gay desire, + The kind deceit, the still reviving fire; + Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs, + Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes." + +Even Waller, the sycophantic poet of a corrupt and profligate court, +pays all due homage to the beauty of mind. + + "Oh, my lovely foe, + Tell me where thy strength doth lie-- + Where the power that _charms_ me so: + In thy soul, or in thine eye." + +As woman then cannot conquer by physical strength, she must depend +upon other attributes of a more passive quality. The following little +anecdote well illustrates the characteristic differences between the +sexes in this respect. I was once giving a handsome and accomplished +lady a description of the Menagerie Royal at Paris, and was describing +the apartment of a large ferocious lion that had been brought from +Africa. The apartment was double, with a partition wall between the +chambers. Whilst the lion would be in one chamber eating, it was the +custom of the keeper to go into the other for the purpose of cleaning +it out, taking care to shut the door between them. One day he +neglected this; and the lion leaving the meat which he had been +devouring, suddenly entered the room, advanced to the man, who backed +against the wall, then leaped upon his breast, and looked him steadily +in the face. Just at this point, I paused and asked the lady, for she +seemed agitated, what she would have done in a similar crisis. Her +answer was characteristic indeed: I would have _kissed_ him! Now I +assert that there is not a man in the wide world who would have ever +thought of appeasing the wrath of the monarch of the forest by a kiss. +His power does not depend on a kiss. From him it is not sufficiently +appreciated to make it coveted by others, and therefore a source of +his power. But with woman it is far otherwise; it is one of her most +potent means--a sort of reserve, not to be resorted to but under the +pressure of necessity. Had you addressed the same question to man, he +would have told you, that he would have stood quiet and firm, (as did +the individual just mentioned,) till assistance could be brought; or +he would have summoned up all his courage and all his strength for one +desperate effort, and attempted to hurl the lion from him; but never +would he have thought of purchasing his life by giving him a kiss. +This is one of woman's resources in the hour of peril, and woman alone +would ever have thought of it. + +In that darkest and most dismal hour of Josephine's life, when the +dread secret of the divorce was first hinted to her by that great but +wily and unprincipled statesman Fouche, how does she act? In all the +agony and concentrated grief which preys upon her heart, she seeks in +his chamber the solitary chieftain, whose martial prowess had shaken +all the thrones of Europe, and filled the world with a fame which +eclipsed that of the Cæsars and Alexanders--she seats herself in his +lap--she strokes back the hair from his forehead: in the mild and +faltering tone of injured honor, she asks him if it be so? He answers +no! And with beauty, grace and tears supplicating, who could have +answered otherwise! Then imprinting a kiss upon his brow, she asks the +dismission of Fouche as an earnest of his attachment. This was denied +her; and at that moment despair seized upon her heart. She knew her +power was gone--the charm was broken--the spell was dissolved. +Ambition triumphed over love. But the Colossus of Europe could have +told you, that the melancholy triumph of that moment, had cost him +more than the conquest of kingdoms and the dethronement of monarchs; +or he could have told you afterwards, that when he for the first time +beheld the barren rock of St. Helena, with that countenance unmoved +and unchanged, which so astonished those who observed it,--the +internal struggle by which he chained down the conflicting emotions of +his soul, was not to be compared with that which could firmly resist +the request of a beloved but injured wife in tears. + + +_Points of Honor in the Sexes_. + +So far, I have been considering the effects of mere inferiority of +strength in the female. But independently of this, there is another +portion of her organization, attended with consequences no less marked +on the whole character. I allude of course to the great law of nature, +which imposes upon her the burden of gestation--of nursing and of +training the rising population of the world. That woman is destined to +the office of nursing and rearing her children, the arrangement of +nature evidently demonstrates. It is she alone whom nature provides +with the food adapted to the support of the fragile constitution of +the newly born babe. She has known and felt all the solicitude, +anxiety and pain pertaining to its existence. It is a law of our +nature, to love that with most ardor, which has cost us most pain and +most anxiety in the attainment. For this reason perhaps, it may be +that even at birth, a mother's love for her babe is more intense than +that of the father; and hence an additional reason of a moral +character, why the office of tutoring and nursing should devolve more +particularly on her. Let us now proceed, for a moment, to trace the +consequences of this position of woman. It is evident that its +tendency must be, to narrow the circle in which she moves; a +considerable portion of her life must be spent in the nursery and the +sick room. Here, at once, would be presented an insurmountable barrier +against that ambition which would lead her into the field, into +politics, or any of the regular professions. She never could compete +with man. In fact, to succeed at all, she would be obliged to desert +the station and defeat the ends for which nature intended her. A +physician, a lawyer, or statesman, who should be obliged to attend to +the suckling, clothing, and the thousand little wants of a helpless +babe, would be distanced in the race by him, who with any thing like +equal power of intellect, was unimpeded in his career by any of those +embarrassing obstacles. + +This organization of woman now under consideration, renders +circumspection and virtue more absolutely indispensable to her than to +man. Guilt and infidelity are much more certainly detected in her case +than in his, and are attended with much more lamentable consequences. +Her whole moral character is formed in some measure in view of this +state of things: chastity and virtue become her points of honor; +modesty becomes her most pleasing and necessary attribute. + + "That chastity of look which seems to hang + A veil of purest light o'er all her beauties, + And by forbidding, most inflames desire," + +may truly be said to constitute one of her greatest and most +indispensable ornaments. The great point of honor in man, is +undoubtedly courage; and in woman, chastity and virtue. "In books of +chivalry, (says Addison, in one of the Nos. of the Spectator,) where +the point of honor is strained to madness, the whole story runs on +chastity and courage. The damsel is mounted on a white palfrey, as an +emblem of her innocence; and to avoid scandal, must have a dwarf for +her page. She is not to think of a man until some misfortune has +brought a knight errant to her relief. The knight falls in love, and +did not gratitude restrain her from murdering her deliverer, would die +at her feet by her disdain. However, he must waste many years in the +desert, before her virginity can think of a surrender. The knight goes +off--attacks every thing he meets that is bigger and stronger than +himself--seeks all opportunities of being knocked on the head--and +after seven years' rambling, returns to his mistress, whose chastity +in the mean time has been attacked by giants and tyrants, and +undergone as many trials as her lover's valor." The following +inscription on a monument erected in Westminster Abbey, to the Duke +and Duchess of New Castle, particularly pleased Mr. Addison, as +illustrative of the difference in the points of honor between the +sexes. "Her name was Margaret Lucas, youngest sister to the Lord Lucas +of Colchester; a noble family--for all the brothers were valiant, and +all the sisters virtuous." Voltaire in his Philosophical Dictionary +remarks, that all animals, if they could talk, would tell you they +considered the female, each one of its own species, as the most +beautiful creature in the world. The remark is a philosophical one; +and will no doubt apply with great force to man, especially in a +civilized condition. All our writers on taste, rank woman in point of +beauty at the head of creation; and make _her_ the most beautiful of +her sex, whose beauty is combined with virtue and loveliness, and +fortified by modesty. How beautifully has Barrett described the +superior excellence of the female character in the following lines: + + "To guard that virtue, to supply the place + Of courage, wanting in her gentle race-- + Lo, modesty was given; mysterious spell, + Whose blush can shame, whose panic can repel. + Strong, by the very weakness it betrays, + It sheds a mist before our fiery gaze: + The panting apprehension, quick to feel + The shrinking grace, that fain would grace conceal, + The beautiful rebuke that looks surprise-- + The gentle vengeance of averted eyes;-- + These are its arms, and these supreme prevail; + Love pauses--Vice retracts his glozing tale." + +We are now prepared to see at once, the foundation of that difference +observable among the sexes all over the world, in all ages, in +relation to the conduct which they observe towards each other. Man +makes all the advances towards the weaker sex. He is the wooer, and +woman the wooed, in every age and country: whilst she is coy and +retiring, and blushes deeply at the very idea of her preferences and +attachments for the opposite sex being even suspected, man +acknowledges with candor his devotion to woman; seeks her society +every where; confesses his enthusiastic delight at the charms of her +conversation, and glories in the performance of those civilities and +gallantries, which the laws of social intercourse have always demanded +at his hands. The desires and inclinations of man, are open and +confessed; those of woman, kept doubtful and secret. "Man (says +Rousseau,) depends on woman on account of his desires; woman on man +both on account of desires and necessities." The difference, however, +is that the former are avowed, the latter concealed.[3] The charms and +fascination of woman, are so contrived as to hide all art itself, and +to appear entirely aimless. Yet in this very circumstance frequently +rests the great power of her attractions. + + "Unaiming charms with edge resistless fall, + And she who means no mischief does it all." + +[Footnote 3: Broussais, the materialist, supposes a difference in this +respect between the sexes, founded on differences in irritation and +animal sensibility, and this is the reason why "she is contented to +win him (man) by gestures and speech, but never does she undertake to +subdue him by force." Whether this be the fact, must be decided by +physiologists. To those who wish to examine this subject, I can only +refer them to Broussais's Physiology, ch. 13, sec 2.] + +It is easy to deduce from the foregoing, that what is called character +or reputation, in the eyes of the world, is infinitely more necessary +to woman than to man: her virtue is the true sensitive plant, which is +blighted even by the breath of suspicion. Cæsar would not have a wife +upon whom suspicion fell, even though convinced of her innocence. Man +may, by reformation, regain a lost character, but woman rarely can. +Man may, and often ought to rise superior to the opinion of the world; +woman never can. Hence the bold assertion of Rousseau, in his _Emile_: +"L'opinion est le tombeau de la virtue parmi les hommes et son trône +parmi les femmes." Under these circumstances, does not the guilt of +the individual, who undermines or asperses the female character, +become a thousand times more atrocious? In regard to woman, Madame de +Stael observes, in her work on literature, that "to defend themselves +is an additional disadvantage; to justify themselves a new alarm. They +are conscious of a purity and delicacy in their nature, which the +notice even of the public will tarnish." And those who suppose +themselves clothed in panoply complete, because of their superior +talents, she likens to "Erminia in her coat of mail:" the warriors +perceive the helmet, the lance, and the dazzling plume; they expect to +meet with equal force; they begin the onset with violence, and the +_first_ wound cuts to the heart. Well then does it behoove every man +of honor and chivalry to guard against the injury of a being so +defenceless, and to contribute all in his power, to the elevation and +amelioration of her position, if it be only as compensation for the +many disadvantages to which she is subjected, in comparison with man. +I have thus endeavored to trace out the causes which produce the +modesty, gentleness and virtue, which certainly characterize the +female sex. + +Upon the same principles we may explain that extraordinary command +over her feelings, which is certainly another of the characteristics +of woman. She cannot give utterance to her passions and emotions like +man. She is not to seek, but to be sought. She is not to woo, but to +be wooed. She is thus frequently required to suppress the most violent +feelings; to put a curb on her most ardent desires, and at the same +time to wear that face of contentment and ease which may impose upon +an inquisitive and scrutinizing world. How often do we see in the gay +circles of fashion and of folly, that while apparent joy it beaming +from the countenance, a secret grief is preying on the heart, and +working the soul into an agony. We are told by Plutarch, that the +institutions of Lycurgus had so disciplined the Spartans in the art of +enduring pain without complaint, that a boy permitted a stolen fox to +eat down to his bowels, without complaining or exhibiting his +sufferings in his countenance. The education and position of woman, +produces an influence in this respect similar to that produced by +Spartan legislation. She can suffer much, and she can suffer long, in +silence, without complaint. How admirably has Shakspeare described +this trait of character, in the description of Viola, in the 12th +Night: though so often quoted, I cannot forego the pleasure of +repeating it: + + "She never told her love, + But let concealment like a worm in the bud, + Feed on her damask cheek: she pined in thought, + And with a green and yellow melancholy, + She sat like patience on a monument, + Smiling at grief." + +All persons placed in situations requiring great self command, by +constantly curbing the passions and allaying the rising emotions, +arrive at last at that self control, that perfect apparent mental +equilibrium which appears so wonderfully difficult to the ordinary +spectator. This is often most strikingly exemplified in statesmen, +diplomatists and gamblers, and sometimes in mercantile men. The great +reserve of Washington on state affairs, is well known: Davilla, the +historian, praises the deep dissimulation of Catherine de Medicis. +Lord Clarendon, and Locke, have spoken with commendations of the same +traits in the characters of the Earls of Bristol and Shaftsbury; +whilst Cicero even, has bestowed his eulogy on the same qualities, and +points to the characters of Homer's Ulysses, Themistocles the +Athenian, Lysander the Spartan, and to Marcus Crassus of Rome, for +examples. Talleyrand, the great diplomatic wonder of the nineteenth +century, it is said, possesses this "_talent pour le silence_," on +state affairs, in a most extraordinary degree. With such a being, +every thing becomes a matter of calculation, down even to the +responses to the ordinary questions of "how do you do?" and "how have +you been?" Such a man may truly be said to carry his heart in his +head, as was said of Mr. Pitt the younger.[4] + +[Footnote 4: Bulwer, in his France, pp. 107 and 8, has given us the +following little anecdotes illustrative of this trait of character; +and the first admirably exhibits the opinion which that deep searching +and wily politician entertained of the candor of statesmen. "But why +is not M. de S. here?" said M. de Talleyrand. "M. de S. est malade," +said an acquaintance. "Ha! ha!" replies the old statesman, shaking his +head, "M. de S. est malade! mais qu'est ce donc qu'il gagne à être +malade!" Again, "which do you like best, M. de Talleyrand," said a +lady, "Madame de ---- or myself?" The reply was not so decisive as the +fair and accomplished questioner expected. "But now," said she, +"suppose we were both to fall into the sea, which should you first try +to save?" "_Oh! Madame_," said the Prince, "_I should be quite certain +that you could swim._" After these, we may well believe the late +response which he is said to have made to his physician, who asked him +some questions about Spain. "Doctor," said he, "you must have +remarked, that I never give an opinion, except upon subjects which I +do not understand. I am happy to talk about physic."] + +Upon the same principles we can explain a seeming moral paradox, in +the fact, that phlegmatic men, when once suddenly excited, become +perfectly ungovernable; exhibiting follies and extravagances, beyond +those we see manifested by men of great imagination and warm feelings. +Very phlegmatic persons, when suddenly in love, are sometimes to be +ranked among the most amusing and laughable objects in nature: with +them a new feeling has just been called, for the first time, into +action: it entirely unhinges and deranges the whole internal man: it +is a new power, which, for a moment, subjects every thing to its +capricious dominion, and the man becomes instantly like Ahmed, the +pilgrim of love, so beautifully described in the tales of the +Alhambra, mounted upon the suddenly disenchanted steed, clad in the +magic armor, and overturning, without the possibility of managing +himself or steed, both friend and foe. + +It has generally been supposed, that sudden love is a symptom of much +imagination, and excitable feelings: this is not always true; it may +sometimes be a proof of the reverse. Very cold phlegmatic men, may +frequently be suddenly roused and enamoured, because they have no +control over the little imagination and feeling which they possess, +when once that little has been roused. One of the most phlegmatic men +I ever knew, married in less than three months after the death of a +wife, whom he had loved while alive, as much as such a nature was +capable of loving; and an affectionate squeeze of the hand, and a more +than usually tender tone of voice, were the simple means by which this +sudden flame was kindled. + +The remarks made above, are susceptible of extensive generalization. +Mr. Stuart says, in the third volume of his Elements of the Philosophy +of Mind, "In one of our most celebrated universities, which has long +enjoyed the proud distinction of being the principal seat of +mathematical learning in this Island, I have been assured, that if at +any time a spirit of fanaticism has infected (as will occasionally +happen in all numerous societies,) a few of the unsounder limbs of +that learned body, the contagion has invariably spread much more +widely among the mathematicians, than among the men of erudition. Even +the strong head of Waering, undoubtedly one of the ablest analysts +that England has produced, was not proof against the malady; and he +seems at last (as I am told by the late Dr. Watson, Bishop of +Landaff,) to have sunk into a deep religious melancholy, approaching +to insanity. When Whitefield first visited Scotland, and produced, by +his powerful though unpolished eloquence, such marvellous effects on +the minds of his hearers, Dr. Simpson, the celebrated professor of +mathematics at Glasgow, had the curiosity to attend one of his sermons +in the fields, but could never be persuaded, by all the entreaties of +his friends, to hear another. He had probably felt his imagination +excited in an unpleasant degree, and with his usual good sense +resolved not to subject himself to the danger of a second experiment." +Now it is well known, that mathematical studies exercise the +imagination less perhaps than any other whatever; and the powerful +influence spoken of by Mr. Stewart, was no doubt owing to the fact, +that the individuals in question, had no control over the imagination; +when once excited, they had never learned to manage and restrain it. +Upon the same principles we can explain the wonderful control which +the coquette ultimately acquires over all her feelings. The general +opinion is, that coquettes are cold and feelingless, and have always +been so, and that all their demonstrations of emotion, are the result +of hypocrisy. This may sometimes be the case, but not always. Persons +of this description, may even have intense feelings; but from +constantly watching, restraining and curbing them, after they have +been called into action, they acquire perfect mastery over them. In +some cases, the feelings may be so chained down by habit, as almost to +be destroyed; in fact, this is generally the case with coquettes, and +when they do marry, it is frequently more from policy than love. +Ambition and vanity, in their case, triumph eventually over love and +feeling; and the love of riches, standing, pomp, and show, determines +their choice.[5] There is one species of coquetry for which I have +much compassion and sympathy; it is where the affections of a lady +have really been won by an individual, whom prudence and the advice of +friends, will forever prevent her from marrying. In this case it +sometimes happens, that tenderness on her part, and a desire to avoid +wounding his feelings, may cause her to excite hopes which are never +to be realized. In this case, he may drink too deeply of what +Shakspeare calls + + "The honey'd music of her words;" + +and at last will awaken to a disappointment, whose melancholy +influence I shall describe, when I come to speak of the effects of +love on the sexes. Perhaps in a case like this, prompt decision, and +the concealment of every thing like tenderness, may be the stern +mandate of reason and prudence; but we must recollect that it is not +that of feeling and sympathy; and we often, in our passage through +life, meet with cases of this kind, when too loose a rein is given to +the feelings upon Sterne's principle, that it is not always agreeable +to be fighting the d----l. + +[Footnote 5: Sometimes coquettes appear to love after marriage more +intensely than others: in most cases I am disposed to doubt the +reality of the affection. Sometimes they have remained single until +the decline of their charms, the advance of age, and an unfavorable +public opinion, have destroyed their reign. This condition is almost +insupportable, and marriage becomes an asylum for their refuge. In +this case the coquette is in love with marriage, rather because of the +insupportable ills which she has escaped, than of the love which she +bears her husband. In other cases, after marriage, want of something +to engage her attention, and exercise her powers of pleasing; of +something that may amuse and excite her; in fine, as Mademoiselle de +L'Enclos, who will readily be acknowledged first rate authority on +this subject, expresses it, "_La necessité d'avoir quelque +gallantrie_," may induce her to lavish upon her husband, all those +attentions, finesses, and displays of feeling, which she before +bestowed upon the world at large. In this case, she makes her husband +the very personification of the gallantries of the world, and proceeds +to play out the game with him, which she had before been carrying on +with the dashing beaux of the fashionable world. Lastly, in some +cases, mere vanity itself may be sufficient, by its intense action, to +make the coquette wear in her countenance, and manifest by her +actions, that love which she feels not in her heart. I do not think +then the coquette will often make a fit companion for the man of +delicate sensibility and all searching penetration. He should seek for +some sensitive, deep feeling heart, which can return him back a full +measure of the love of which his own fond, devoted heart is so lavish. +True and genuine affection cannot long be deceived: it has too many +nice and exquisitely delicate chords, to be played upon with success +by the coarse fingers of hypocrisy.] + +A gentleman, for similar reasons, often indulges sentiments of love +towards her whom he knows that circumstances will never permit to be +his. I have seen many cases of most tender attachment, of this kind. +Travellers in foreign countries, and persons in lower stations of +life, suddenly brought into contact with the upper, furnish the most +frequent illustrations. + + +_Pride and Vanity._ + +We are now prepared to compare the sexes together, as to two most +important traits in character--_pride_ and _vanity_; and before +entering upon this investigation, it is proper to premise, that I use +these words in their technical philosophical meaning: _Pride_ to mean +that quality which makes us set a high value on ourselves, +independently of the esteem of the world--and _vanity_, to be that +which makes us desire the esteem of others, and value ourselves +accordingly. + +False pride is the valuing ourselves for properties which are really +contemptible, or not praiseworthy; and false vanity is the desire of +the esteem of those whose opinions we should disregard, either because +of the inferiority of their judgments, or because of the +insignificance of the merit, for which we claim their approbation. The +meaning which I have here given to _false_ pride and vanity, is what +is generally attached in ordinary parlance to the simple terms pride +and vanity. + +Now, according to the definition given above, it follows, that these +two qualities belong, in some proportions, to all the members of the +human family. Man is evidently made by his maker, a being of relations +and dependencies: coming into the world in the most helpless and +dependent condition, the preservation of his life, and the training of +infancy, demand the continued assistance of others: those who are +around him, give him his daily food, and teach him his daily lessons: +their esteem and love is the reward of his little virtues and merits: +their censures and frowns his punishments. As he grows to manhood, and +his mind expands, his relations with the world become more numerous, +and more extensive, and he ultimately seeks the applause and esteem, +not only of the little family circle in which he was reared, but of +his neighborhood, of his State; then, if his ambition be great, of +mankind, and of the generations that are to follow. Thus the desire of +the applause of the world, and the dread of its censure, becomes one +of the most powerful motives to action, in the breast of man--this is +_vanity_. + +But at the same time, there is that within us, which produces +happiness from the reflection, that we have done our duty, and that +our conduct is praiseworthy, whether we have the esteem of the world +or not. We value ourselves for what we consider our real intrinsic +merits, and not for the applause of the world--and this is _pride_. + +As thus explained, it is very evident that these two great principles, +pride and vanity, must have almost omnipotent sway in the formation of +character. Chenevix, in his work on national character, and Adam Smith +in his theory of moral sentiments, make the whole human character to +hinge on these two qualities. When pride is excessive, you have for +the most part a haughty isolated independent taciturn being, who, +wrapt up in himself, and his own ideal perfections, despises the +opinions of those around him, and treats the world with austerity and +scorn. His social defects are bluntness, rudeness, and a want of +sympathy and compassion. But then he is a being who is firm and steady +in his character, and unwavering in his resolves. He may be relied on, +if you can ever win him to your side. When vanity is excessive, you +have a being the very reverse of the one just described. He is social, +loquacious, polite and attentive to all around him. He has no fixed +character or opinion of his own: the opinion of the world is the +looking glass in which he daily dresses himself. Affectation and +disingenuousness are his social defects. Win him to your side to-day, +and to-morrow when he finds the other the most popular, he will desert +you without hesitation. He is a treacherous friend. When these two +qualities are properly combined, you have the perfect character. + +Now it is easy to see, from what has already been said, that of the +two sexes man is the prouder, and woman the vainer. The greater +physical strength of man, the occupations in which he is engaged, his +self dependence and self sufficiency, make him generally more proud +and less vain than woman, who being weaker than man, and more +dependent on others, is obliged to seek their esteem and applause, in +order that through their attachment and love, she may exercise a power +which she finds not within herself. The desire to please is +undoubtedly the ruling passion in the female heart. As I have before +observed, her virtue is a much more sensitive and tender plant, than +that of man: it can much more easily be tarnished, by the breath of +public opinion; and when her reputation is once lost, it can never be +regained. Hence the good opinion of the world is all in all to her. +She endeavors to secure it by every means. She is generally more gay +and cheerful, more loquacious and polite, infinitely more amiable and +agreeable in the social circle, and she trifles with more grace and +elegance. For the same reason she adorns and perfects her beauty more, +and endeavors to heighten and polish her natural endowments by the aid +of artificial ornaments. "I have observed, (says Ledyard,) among all +nations, that the women ornament themselves more than the men; that +they are ever inclined to be gay, cheerful, timorous and modest." They +are more observant of fashions and of etiquette, and, as we shall +presently see, they have more tact, more nice discrimination of +feeling and discernment of character than men have. Women are +precisely what the men make them, all over the world. Addison says, +"that had women determined their own point of honor, it is probable +that wit or good nature would have carried it against chastity;" but +our sex have preferred the latter, and woman has conformed to the +decision. + +The vanity of woman, under proper regulation, makes her the most +fascinating being in creation, when it is the virtuous, the +intelligent, and the just, whose approbation she attempts to win, by +the charms and graces of virtue, innocence, modesty, and +accomplishment, where "she is the darling child of society, indulged +not spoiled, presiding over its pleasures, preserving its refinements, +taking nothing from its strength, adding much to its brilliancy, +permitted the full exercise of all her faculties, and retaining the +full endowment of all her graces." + +And this same being, who, in her unmarried state, is the delight and +charm of every circle in which she moves, may after marriage look to +the esteem and approbation of him who has won her hand and heart, as +the jewel of greatest price. His opinion may become to her what that +of the world was before. His taste is the one which she may delight to +please. + + "She, if her lord but gaze with pride, + Wears what he loves, and thinks no gem denied; + And if, compliant with his wish, she roam, + To the gay tumults which endear her home, + 'Mid brighter fashions, and that pomp of waste, + Which glittering fools misname, and call it taste; + Tho' not a gem her simple hair have crown'd, + While lavish diamonds fling their beams around, + Can smile serene, nor feel one envy burn, + And sleep without a sigh, on her return."[6] + +[Footnote 6: _Paradise of Coquettes_, generally ascribed to the pen of +the late Dr. Thomas Brown, the professor of moral and mental +philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, of whom Mr. Dugald Stewart +said, "in my opinion even Dr. Brown would have been a still better +metaphysician, if he had not been a poet, and a still better poet if +he had not been a metaphysician." I have no doubt of the truth of this +remark, though we must acknowledge, that whether we examine his +metaphysics or his poetry, we shall find that none has ever better +understood the heart of a truly virtuous and constant female, or more +highly appreciated it.] + +Such a companion makes the home of her husband a paradise on earth, +and the thought of him and his happiness, soon interweaves and +intertwines itself with all her little schemes and projects, with all +her desires and ambition, and her house becomes the true scene of +domestic happiness and of the domestic virtues. + +On the other hand, when vanity is excessive, or badly regulated, woman +is too apt to substitute art for nature, and to attempt to impose upon +the world by outward show and hollow pretensions; to manage and +intrigue for the purpose of carrying her plans, and consummating her +schemes; and when in danger of detection, she has recourse to evasions +and devices, which in the end may produce the character of falsehood +and hypocrisy. + +"A person (says Adam Smith,) who has excessive vanity, in attempting +to win the applause of those around him, is apt to fall into the +practice of lying, but the lies are not of a black or very hurtful +character to society; they are intended to deceive you, and make you +think more of the person who tells them, and not to injure others; +whereas a proud man but rarely lies, and when he does, it is apt to be +a dark and malicious falsehood, which he tells; one intended for the +injury of others, not for the exaltation of himself." It is badly +regulated vanity, which produces that character for cunning, which +Rousseau considered one of the distinguishing characteristical traits +in the female. He was so much impressed with the predominance of this +trait in woman's character, that he was disposed to attribute it, (I +think falsely,) rather to nature than to circumstances and education. +He tells us of the following device, practiced by a girl of six years +old, who had been strictly forbidden to ask for any thing at table. +For the purpose of inducing her parents to help her to a dish which +she had not tasted, she pointed her finger at the several dishes, +saying, I have eaten of that, and of that, &c. until she came to the +one of which she had not eaten, passing that by in silence. A cunning +hint was thus given to the parents, without violation of their +commands, that she would like to be helped to it. This little +stratagem Rousseau thinks far beyond what a boy of the same age would +have planned, and hence he comes to the conclusion, that "_La ruse est +un talent naturel au sex_"--he thinks this a wise dispensation of +nature, for, says he, "La femme a tout contre elle nos defauts, sa +timidité, sa faiblesse; elle n'a pour elle que son art et sa beaute. +N'est il pas juste qu'elle cultive l'un et l'autre?" When these +devices and stratagems, which the softer sex practice for the +attainment of their ends, become too apparent, they disgust; when well +concealed, they frequently succeed: but honesty here, as every where, +will prove to be the best policy; and I cannot agree with Rousseau, +that generally they are advantageous to those who practice them: they +always endanger more or less the character of the individual. In +spite, however, of all our caution and advice on this subject, in the +little concerns of life, and the petty tactics of the drawing and ball +rooms, woman will always display more skill and cunning than man. +These are the scenes with which she is more conversant, and which she +studies far more deeply than he. A skilful tactician in the drawing +room, may almost be compared to a general in the field. She notes, +without being perceived, every movement, and by skilful evolutions she +brings about that arrangement of parties which best suits her taste, +and which seems to others, who have not the sagacity to see the game, +the effect of magic, rather than of art. With man it is very +different; concealment and stratagem in the little courtesies and +plans of life, are never expected of him. The maxim of David Crockett, +"go ahead," is the one on which he practices. As woman is the most +skilful manager on these occasions, so is she the most sagacious +observer, and she can sometimes greatly amuse us, by furnishing a key +to the manoeuvring in the social and fashionable world. + + +_Mother and Child._ + +I now proceed more particularly to the consideration of the effects +produced upon the female character, by that most interesting and +tender tie, the relation of mother and child. We have already pointed +out the reasons why the mother should be considered, as intended more +particularly by nature, for the office of nursing, rearing, and +tutoring the infant. Although the effects of this position, are first +manifested upon mothers, yet, as they constitute so large and +influential a portion of females, their character, whatever it may be, +will quickly diffuse itself over the whole sex, and consequently we +may predicate of the whole, to a certain extent at least, the +properties and peculiarities of character, which flow from the +relation of mother and child. + +There can scarcely be conceived in the whole range of nature, a more +tenderly interesting object, than the perfectly helpless and innocent +babe. The writers on the sublime tell us, that that obscurity and +indistinctness which prevents us from seeing the exact proportions of +objects, is favorable to sublimity, by the increased play which it +gives to the imagination. Now, what is there so well calculated to +rouse the imagination and excite our anticipations, as the listless, +inactive infant,--slumbering from the moment at which he takes his +milky food to the moment at which he awakes to require it again? What +is that infant to become? What is to be his destiny? What the rôle +which he is to play in the great drama of life? He is now at the +starting point; the future lies latent within him. He is to be nursed +and taken by the hand, and led gently along the path of life, until +the growth of body, and the developement of mental powers, shall +enable him, unaided, to combat the difficulties and obstacles which +beset him on his way. + +Then, is he to select the part which he is to act? Is he to be the +great warrior, "striding from victory to victory, and making his path +a plane of continued elevation"--dethroning and unmaking princes, and +grasping the destiny of empires in his single hand? Or is he, by +overturning the fair fabric of his country's government, and wading +through war, anarchy and blood, at last to triumph over the law and +the constitution, and build up his own throne on the melancholy ruins +of his country's liberty? Or will he be the philosopher of his age, +taking + + "His ardent flight + Through the blue infinite;" + +numbering the planets, noting their complex but harmonious movements, +and deducing the unerring laws by which they are governed? Or, by +pouring truth after truth upon the world, is he to break up the +prejudices and dissipate the errors which have before bound down the +restless energies of the mind under the fatal spell of ignorance and +superstition? Perhaps he is to be the genuine philanthropist, and like +Howard, to travel from country to country, "not to survey the +sumptuousness of palaces or the stateliness of temples; not to make +accurate measurement of the remains of ancient grandeur; not to form a +scale of the curiosity of modern arts; nor to collect medals or to +collate manuscripts: but to dive into the depths of dungeons--to +plunge into the infection of hospitals--to survey the mansions of +sorrow and pain--to take the gauge and dimensions of misery, +depression and contempt--to remember the forgotten, to attend to the +neglected, to visit the forsaken--and compare and collate the +distresses of all men in all countries." Or is he to be the simple, +but contented being, whose world is bounded by his visual horizon,-- + + "Who never had a dozen thoughts + In all his life; and never changed their course; + But told them o'er, each in its 'customed place, + From morn till night, from youth till hoary age, + And never had an unbelieving doubt; + But thought the visual line that girt him round + The world's extremes: and thought the silver moon + That nightly o'er him led her virgin host, + No broader than his father's shield."-- + +Well, this being who is now rocked in his cradle, with these germs +infolded, but unperceived, in his heart and in his feeble intellect, +although the most helpless and dependent of animated creation, +commands the sympathies and love of those who were the authors of its +being, and possesses already so great an influence, that he cannot in +after life, "by the most imperious orders which he addresses to the +most obsequious slaves, exercise an authority more commanding, than +that which in the first hours of his life, when a few indistinct cries +and tears were his only language, he exercised irresistibly over +hearts of the very existence of which he was ignorant." But it is the +mother that gave it birth, who feels the deepest sympathy with all its +pains and wants, and carries in her heart, the most unbounded and +unremitting affection for it. Man as I have before observed, has a +ruder and a hardier nature than woman: the out of door world, with all +its bustle and jostling, its difficulties, dangers, hardships and +labors, is the theatre for his actions. He only enjoys the domestic +scenes during the intervals of his labors, and then perhaps worn down +by toil and fatigue, he dandles for a moment his smiling infant on his +knee, and retires to rest, or to muse on the projects of his ambition, +or to form schemes for the accumulation of wealth and the extension of +his influence. And when he thinks of his child, he associates him with +those schemes and projects with which he is to be connected in after +life, and looks upon + + "The bright glad creature springing in his path + But as the heir of his great name, the young + And stately tree, whose rising strength ere long + Shall bear his trophies well. And this is love! + This is man's love!" + +The prayer which Homer puts into the mouth of Hector for his son +Astyanax, at the parting with Andromache, most beautifully illustrates +the nature of a father's love. "O Jupiter, and ye gods! grant that +this my son may be like his father, a leader among the Trojans, brave +in battle, and a brave king of Illion. And hereafter, may the people +say of him as he comes from battle, he is far braver than his father, +and may he bring back the bloody spoils, having slain his enemy, and +please his mother's heart." A Brutus and a Titus Manlius, who would +condemn their own sons to death for the satisfaction of public +justice, may be found among fathers, but never among mothers. +Agamemnon may consent to the sacrifice of Iphigenia, but Clytemnestra, +although a woman of depravity, could not,--because she loved the +daughter more than she loved Greece. Joy it is well known, may +sometimes be so intense as to produce death. Listen to the three +following cases of death from joy: they will illustrate the difference +between the father's and mother's love. Pliny tells us, that Chilo the +Spartan died upon hearing that his son had gained a prize at the +Olympic games. Again--the three sons of Diagoras were crowned on the +same day victors in the Olympic games, the one as a pugilist, the +other as a wrestler, and the third, at the _pancration_, or game +combined of wrestling and boxing; and Aulus Gellius tells us, that the +father's joy was so great, that he expired in the arms of his sons in +the presence of the assembled multitude, "ibi in stadio inspectante +populo, in osculis atque in manibus filiorum animam efflavat." In both +of these cases joy came from gratified ambition. Livy tells us of an +aged mother, who, while she was plunged into the depths of distress +from the news of her son's death in battle, died in his arms from the +excess of joy, on his sudden, unexpected safe return; the mother loved +her son, not for the lustre which he might shed on her name and +family, but for himself, and well might she, for it is the lot of a +mother to watch with unremitting care over her infant during the first +years of its existence. She notices with a tender anxiety all its +little movements, and administers to all its wants. She alone learns +to + + "Explore the thought, explain the asking eye;" + +she alone learns to read all the emotions of its heart by gazing on +the play of its features. To her the voice of laughter is as +delightful and beautiful as the most ravishing music; and the tones +and cries of sickness and distress, are as afflicting and melancholy, +as the fall of stocks, revulsions of commerce, and the disasters of +trade and business are to man. + +Even in women of the most wicked character, those who are the very +fiends of their sex, we sometimes see this maternal fondness bursting +out, and demonstrating at once, the difference between the wickedness +of man and that of woman. Mrs. Jameson admires very much those touches +of Shakspeare's pencil, which mark in the midst of all her atrocities +and dark crimes, the womanly character of Lady Macbeth. How beautiful +is the recollection of a mother's love, even in this fiend: + + "I have given suck, and know how tender 'tis + To love the babe that milks me." + +And again she shows the woman, when she exclaims: + + "Had he not resembled my father as he slept, + I had done it"-- + +Well, then, are we prepared in the fifth act for the declaration of +this monster of depravity, under the stings of a tormenting +conscience, when she gazes on the hand that had done the deed and +exclaims: + + "All the perfumes of Arabia, will not sweeten this little hand." + +But let us quit such specimens as these, and go back to our subject. + +Who is there among us, who can look back to the period of his infant +career, and not shed a tear of gratitude for a mother's love, and a +mother's care? What heart does not heave with emotion at the +recollection of the first years of our education, when day by day we +were clasped in our mother's arms, and with the kiss of affection +imprinted upon the brow, were charged to be good boys, and learn with +cheerfulness the lesson that was assigned us. Black indeed must be +that heart which can forget a mother's solicitude. The recollection of +her advice and admonition has often saved the individual in the hour +of temptation, and we can almost forgive Marmontel for his vices and +his sins, while breathing the atmosphere of a profligate and abandoned +court, when we peruse in his interesting memoirs the following +paragraph, occasioned by the farewell which he took of his mother in +declining health. "Yet a little while, and she will be no longer mine; +this mother who from my birth has breathed only for me; this adored +mother whose displeasure I feared as that of heaven, and if I dare say +it, yet more than heaven itself. For I thought of her much oftener +than of God, and when I had some temptation to subdue or some passion +to repress, it was always my mother that I fancied present. What would +she say, if she knew what passes in me? What would be her confusion? +What would be her grief? Such were the reflections that I opposed to +myself, and my reason then resumed its empire, seconded by nature, who +always did what she pleased with my heart. Those who, like me, have +known this tender filial love, need not be told what was the sadness +and despondency of my soul." Montaigne in his singular, but highly +amusing and ingenious essays, places Epaminondas of Thebes, among the +_three men_ who were "more excellent than all the rest" of whom he had +any knowledge; and the very first proof which he adduces of his +excessive goodness is the declaration of Epaminondas, "that the +greatest satisfaction he ever had in his whole life, was the pleasure +he gave his father and mother by his victory at Leuctra." + +The influence which a mother's care and a mother's love produces upon +a girl, is much greater than that wrought on a boy. The girl is more +constantly with her mother; she is taught to imitate and act like her; +she is more constantly with the younger children of the family; her +attentions, her kindnesses, her sympathies and her love, come in +process of time to resemble those of the mother, much more than of the +father. Hence it is fair to say, that all the effects wrought on the +mother by the nursing, training, &c. of the infant, are produced in +some degree on all her daughters. + +Having thus pointed out the character of that love which a mother +bears for her children, I will now proceed to show the effects which +it produces on the character of the mother herself. Marmontel in his +"_Lecons Sur la Morale_," pronounced "the heart of a good mother, to +be the masterpiece of nature's works;" and Stewart, on the Active and +Moral Powers, endorses the assertion,--and adds, "there is no form +certainly, in which humanity appears so lovely, or presents so fair a +copy of the Divine image after which it was made." + +The tender offices of a mother, combined with that inferiority of +strength which I have before noted, together with difference in +physical organization, will no doubt contribute to increase the number +and sensibility, if I may use the expression, of the chords of +affection and sympathy. They will cultivate to a much greater extent, +the finer and the lovelier feelings of our nature. They understand +better and receive more readily those finer and more fugitive +impressions which come under the description of sentiment. We become +hackneyed by the rough and rude business of the world, our feelings +become coarse and less delicate, and less minute. In consequence of +their domestic life, "that reciprocation of social kindnesses which is +only a recreation to men, is to women in some sense a business. It is +their field duty, from which household cares are their repose. Men do +not seek the intercourse of society as a friend to be cultivated, but +merely throw themselves on its bosom to sleep." In the same manner, we +shall find that woman possesses much more tact, and much nicer +discernment of character than man. Perhaps in the rough storms of +life, when the master passions are called into action, and mind is +brought into conflict with mind, under the most powerful agitation, +man then may be the best judge of character; for the tragedy has +become too deep and dark for woman's penetration and experience. She +is not so well acquainted with the deep feelings of the heart, when +lashed into a tempest by the strife and conflicts of the political +world. But of the fireside character, of those inequalities exhibited +by the temper under all the manifold aggravations of social injury, +she is decidedly the best judge, and knows best how to administer the +proper remedies. Under the influence of sorrow and pain, we may often +wear a countenance that will deceive man,--rarely one that will impose +on woman, when she is interested in our fate. Every man will have +observed occasionally how quickly a woman discerns the wound which she +has involuntarily inflicted upon his feelings, and how soon and how +tenderly she will repair the mischief; making him by the manner of +reparation, not only forgive the injury, but admire her more than +ever. With man it is but too often very different, and he must be +asked for explanation before he is aware of the injury. + +Woman, in all conditions, is a better comforter and a better nurse +than man. She reads in the countenance with more facility all our +little wants, and is ever ready to administer to them. Her sympathy is +more alive, and her familiarity with the distresses around, make her +more humane and compassionate than man. Mercy and mildness have always +been her attributes; and the horrors and barbarities of war were never +moderated, until chivalry and religion brought forward the mighty +influence of woman to suppress them. + +The following most beautiful and just eulogy of one of the most +distinguished travellers which the world has ever produced, written +without any view to publication, is so apposite to the views which +have just been presented, that I will give it entire from Sparks's +Life of Ledyard, with the exception of portions already quoted. "I +have observed among all nations (says Ledyard,) that wherever found, +they (women,) are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender +beings. They do not hesitate like man to perform a hospitable or +generous action; not haughty, nor arrogant, nor supercilious, but full +of courtesy, and fond of society; industrious, economical, ingenious, +more liable to err than man, but in general, also more virtuous, and +performing more good actions than he. I never addressed myself in the +language of decency and friendship to a woman, whether civilized or +savage, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man, it +has often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of +inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and +churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the wide spread regions of +the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet or sick, woman has +ever been friendly to me, and uniformly so; and to add to this virtue +so worthy of the appellation of benevolence, these actions have been +performed in so free and so kind a manner, that if I was dry, I drank +the sweet draught, and if hungry, ate the coarse morsel with a double +relish."[7] + +[Footnote 7: The author of "Leaves from my Log Book," relates the +following incident which occurred while he was passing through a +village near Rochefort in France, as a prisoner under a military +escort. It affords so fine an illustration of the truth of Ledyard's +eulogy on the sex, that I am induced to insert it in a note. + +"I had obtained a fresh supply of canvass for my feet, which were much +blistered and extremely sore; but this was soon worn out, and I +suffered dreadfully. About noon, we halted in the market place of a +small town bearing every mark of antiquity, (I think it was Melle,) to +rest and refresh. To escape the sun, I took my seat on an old tea +chest, standing in front of a Huckster's shop, and removed my tattered +moccasins. Whilst doing this, an elderly woman came out of the shop +accompanied by a young girl very prettily dressed, and '_pauvre +garcon! pauvre prisonier!_' were uttered by both. The girl with tears +in her eyes looked at my lacerated feet, and then without saying a +word returned to the house. In a few moments afterwards she +reappeared, but her finery had been taken off, and she carried a large +bowl of warm water in her hands. In a moment the bowl was placed +before me. She motioned me to put in my feet, which I did, and down +she went upon her knees and washed them in the most tender manner. Oh +what luxury was that half hour! The elder female brought me food, +while the younger having performed her office, wrapt up my feet in +soft linen, and then fitted on a pair of her mother's shoes." Well +then might this grateful writer exclaim, in conclusion of this little +narrative, + + "Hail! woman hail! last formed in Eden's bowers, + Midst humming streams, and fragrance breathing flowers: + Thou art 'mid light and gloom, through good and ill, + Creation's glory, man's chief blessing still. + + Thou calm'st our thoughts, as Halcyons calm the sea, + Sooth'st in distress, when servile minions flee; + And oh! without thy sun bright smiles below, + Life were a night, and earth a waste of woe." + +Far, indeed, might this poor prisoner have journeyed without meeting +in our sex, with such a kind, tender being, as the fair Evlalie.] + +Marmontel tells us that Madame de Tencin, one of the most +distinguished and fashionable ladies at Paris, and one who possessed a +deep and exquisite knowledge of men and women, advised him always to +seek for friends among women, rather than among men. "For by means of +women (said she,) you may do what you please with men; and these are +either too dissipated or too much occupied with their own personal +interest to attend to yours: whereas women think of your interest, be +it only out of indolence. Mention this evening to a woman who is your +friend, an affair that intimately concerns you; to-morrow at her +spinning wheel, at her embroidery, you will find her occupied with +you, torturing her fancy to invent some means of serving you. But be +careful to be nothing more than the friend of her whom you think may +be useful to you; for between lovers, where once there happens any +cloud, dispute or rupture, all is lost. Be then assiduous to her, +complaisant, gallant even, if you will, but nothing more. You +understand me?" + +So strongly does woman sympathize with the distress and suffering of +those around her, that under peculiar circumstances, she sometimes is +carried to perform acts of enterprise and heroism, which rival the +achievements of the ages of chivalry. Under the impulse of highly +excited feelings, she has sometimes forgotten her inferiority of +strength, and the dangers to which she is exposed by collision with +the rudeness and roughness of the out of door world. On such +occasions, she has braved all the hardships and labors which have +opposed her, has crossed mountains and rivers, and penetrated alone +into Siberian deserts; or visited courts and camps, and importuned +monarchs and generals, until she has accomplished her humane purposes. +How interesting is Elizabeth to us, in the Exiles of Siberia, by +Madame Cottin, when she determines to go alone from the heart of the +Siberian desert, to beg the Emperor for the liberty of her exiled +father; and how much more deeply interested do we become in this tale +when we know that it is not only founded on fact, but that the real +dangers and difficulties which Elizabeth encountered, were of such a +character as to make Madame Cottin suppose that they would not be +believed, if faithfully narrated. The deep and thrilling interest +excited by the character of Jeannie Deans, in the Heart of Mid +Lothian, is due in a great measure to her magnanimous and heroic +resolution, taken under the influence of sisterly love, to make a +journey on foot, unprotected and alone, from her father's mansion near +Edinburg, to London, for the purpose of obtaining the pardon of her +sister, and to the difficulties, dangers and hardships which she is +represented as surmounting with unshaken fortitude. Mrs. Jameson in +her Visits and Sketches, has given us a narrative of the adventures of +Mademoiselle Ambos, equal to those of Elizabeth in the Exiles of +Siberia, or to those of Jeannie Deans in the beautiful fiction of Sir +Walter Scott. + +This young lady formed the bold and daring project of visiting the +court of Russia for the purpose of obtaining the pardon of her brother +Henri Ambos, who was exiled to Siberia. She actually visited St. +Petersburg alone,--obtained after a triumph over the most appalling +difficulties, the pardon of her brother from the Emperor +Nicholas,--and then under the impulse of those Divine feelings which +can exist in woman's heart alone, she determined herself to be the +bearer of the glad tidings which would restore a lost son to a broken +hearted mother, and an affectionate sister. And the reader can scarce +refrain from dropping a tear of sympathy, when she received for answer +to the pardon which she had delivered to the commandant of the +fortress, with a hand trembling with impatience, and joy almost too +great to be borne, "Henri Ambos _is dead!_"--In order to estimate the +heroism, the sublimity of such deeds, we must call to mind the +relative positions of the sexes in society; we must recollect the +weakness, the modesty, and above all the shrinking timidity of the +female, before we can estimate the depth of that feeling which can +conquer all the weaknesses of her nature, in the execution of her +benevolent purposes. + +"Ye who shall marvel," (says Byron in his very interesting description +of the Maid of Saragossa,) + + "Ye who shall marvel when you hear her tale, + Oh! had you known her in her softer hour, + Mark'd her black eye that mocks her coal black veil, + Heard her light, lively tones in lady's bower, + Seen her long locks that foil the painter's power, + Her fairy form, with more than female grace, + Scarce would you deem that Saragoza's tower + Beheld her smile in danger's Gorgon face, + Thin the closed ranks, and lead in glory's fearful chase." + +The sympathies, the feelings of woman on such occasions, impart a +courage and fortitude which seem to be almost the inspiration of +heaven itself; the rude uncourteous world, is awed into respect and +admiration by the forbidding dignity of her demeanor, and the fearless +determination with which she executes her resolves. When Mademoiselle +Ambos was asked if she had ever met with insult, she said she had +twice met "with wicked men"--but she felt no alarm, she knew how to +protect herself; and as she said this, (says Mrs. Jameson,) her +countenance assumed an expression which showed that it was not a mere +boast. + + +_Influence of Love_. + +I come now to the consideration of the character of the sexes in +relation to a passion, which is one of the most universal, powerful +and interesting, implanted in the human breast--the passion of love. A +passion which has agitated alike, the philosopher and the poet, the +nobleman and the peasant; which in the language of the Edinburg +Review, "has filled the parsonage house with chubby children, and +beats in the breast of the Baptist, animates the Arminian, melts the +Unitarian maid, and stirs up the moody Methodist, to declare himself +the ready victim of human love." My limits will not of course allow me +to enter fully into a subject upon which so much has been written, and +so much more has been felt. The sexes throughout the whole animated +creation are determined towards each other by an instinct, and this is +animal love. Under its operation but little preference is shown for +individuals, except in those cases where the joint aid of male and +female is necessary to the rearing of the offspring. There nature, +ever consistent with herself, and with that harmonious design and +beautiful adaptation observed throughout the universe, has established +a temporary union among the sexes, similar to marriage in the human +family. But this connexion seems to be determined more by the +operation of mere instinct, than by reason, imagination, and the +association of ideas. With man, love is no doubt founded on animal +instinct; but then all the powers of the human mind, all the passions +of the heart, all the affections and emotions; in fine, the whole +moral and mental machinery of our nature are brought to bear on this +instinct, to foster or stifle, to develope or exterminate it. By means +of the mighty power of imagination, and the laws of association, such +a complicated and magnificent fabric is reared, as occasionally to +obscure and almost hide the instinct material which lies at the +bottom. It is under the influences of these higher and more exalted +powers of the mind, that this passion of our nature is directed +towards one object alone, and that all the world is so readily +forsaken for the possession of that one. + +Most of our desires, although natural, are determined as to their +particular direction by the operation of circumstances--take for +example the desire for society. There is no doubt that this is a +natural instinctive desire; man is certainly a gregarious animal; he +delights in intercourse with fellow-man; solitude is at war with the +condition of his nature, and so strong is his desire for society, that +if man be deprived of intercourse with man, he will make companions of +brutes and reptiles themselves. Horses, dogs, cats, even spiders and +rats, have become his very dear associates in his solitary condition. +And yet, under the operation of reason, imagination, and the passions, +together with that endless variety of character which we find in the +human family, this desire is directed to particular persons and +particular circles. We may shun the society of A and B--we may court +that of C and D--and indeed, under the very severe pressure of +calamity, when all our hopes and our darling schemes of ambition and +aggrandizement are blasted forever, by the perfidious machinations and +wily projects of those very individuals whom we had fondly called our +friends, there is an almost irresistible tendency in the mind, at such +a melancholy crisis, to indulge the gloomy feeling of misanthropy, and +plunge into the depth of solitude, where we may escape the persecution +and treachery of a dissembling world. Thus do we find circumstances +controling, directing, and sometimes almost exterminating our natural +passions and propensities. + +Love in the human family is eminently under the control of +circumstances. The original, natural passion implanted in the breast, +may be compared to the common quantities in algebra--it belongs to +all. Cupid cares not for creeds, nor occupations, nor professions; but +the development of the passion, under the guidance of reason, +association and imagination, assumes as many shapes as the +dispositions and intellects of the myriads who compose the human +family. In the civilized countries of Europe, and in our own, woman +has been liberated from that state of servitude and debasement, to +which either the condition of barbarism, or the laws of Mahommedanism +had too long confined her. The institution of chivalry, and the +diffusion of the humane spirit of christianity, have assigned her that +station in society which makes her in the social circle the equal of +man. She has been disenthralled from that jealousy which would quietly +immure her within the walls of the Seraglio, and which, in attempting +to preserve her chastity by constraint, prevents the development of +mind, extinguishes the vigor and intensity of the affections, and +really in the end, debauches the heart, whilst it guards the person. +Under a system of free and equal intercourse among the sexes, love +assumes a totally different form from that which exists in society +where woman is not looked on as the equal of man. In the former case, +she must be wooed and won; in the latter, she is bought and locked up. +In the former case, she is allowed the free employment of all her +faculties, and the full play of all her graces and accomplishments. In +the latter, becoming the slave of man, and losing all those higher +inducements to mental and moral excellence which freedom alone can +foster, she degenerates into a mere being of ignorance and sensuality, +going through the dull round of solely animal pleasures, unattended by +that grace and refinement which throw so bright a lustre around the +female character. + +When freedom of intercourse exists among the sexes, what is called +courtship, becomes a longer and more assiduous task to the gentlemen, +than where such freedom does not exist. The heart of woman may be +likened to the besieged and fortified castle. It must be regularly +invested; slowly and cautiously, or boldly and daringly approached, +according to circumstances. The whole science of social tactics must +be studied, and a skilful application made to the heart which is to be +won. Under these circumstances, when all the affections of a man's +heart have really been concentrated upon one object, if he possess a +keen sensibility and a highly wrought imagination, the period of his +love and of his courtship, may be the most important of his whole +life: like the fabled wand of the magician, it may but wave over the +character, and change the whole inner man. Ardent and intense love is +certainly the master passion of our nature, whilst it exists; but like +all tyrants, it may reign but for a season; it is liable to +dethronement. Whilst, however, it is enthroned, it conquers every +other. Ambition, interest, patriotism, all have yielded during the +hour of its ascendancy. Whilst this passion endures, it clusters +around its object all the dearest associations and fondest +recollections of our life. It is the spirit which has only to move +over the chaos of our existence, and attract to itself all the +elements of our nature. It enters the heart, and makes us brood over +dreams of joy, and look with rapturous gaze and supplicating eye, + + "To the bright form of our idolatrous worship, + Whose every gesture, motion, look or word-- + Like wonder-working secret alchymy, + Changes each passing thought to visioned bliss." + +It mixes itself with all our thoughts, our desires, our hopes and +actions. It is the realization of the fable of the fish, which +imparted its own beautiful color to every object that approached it. +How often when we have stood amid the lone majesty of nature's works, +"all heaven above" and earth beneath, with no eye gazing on us, save +that of him _who doeth his will and ruleth in the armies of heaven_, +have we felt this unseen spirit to move within us--to touch, as if +with magic hand, all the springs of our moral sensibility, and waken +up all the tender emotions of our soul. Even with the prayer which we +address to heaven from this great temple of nature we cannot refrain +from mingling the name of her whose beauty and loveliness have excited +within us the sympathetic emotions of virtue and piety. This passion +of love, when it is genuine, accompanies us wherever we go; it +associates the beloved object with all our plans and schemes of +ambition, and casts its own bright radiance over all the objects which +surround us: + + "It breathes forth in the song of joyous birds-- + In the violet hues of the broad laughing heavens-- + In sunlight--in the beams of radiant stars-- + In gush of waters--in the evening breeze, + Making its nest amidst the parting boughs + Of murmuring trees--and oh! the most of all + In _her_ sweet melting tones of tenderness, + The steadfast lustre of her gazing eye-- + For all are nature's oracles, and teach + The heart to love." + +Even the circle of friends by which we are surrounded, become +associated in our imagination with the sole object of our affections; +our tastes are often changed, our friendships altered, our very +opinions and inclinations are sometimes revolutionized by the potent +but silent sway of that being whose beauty and loveliness have placed +us under this mysterious spell. Love like this, terminating in +marriage, founded on reciprocity of affection, must be productive of +the most exquisite and refined happiness which the frail condition of +man will allow us in this world. It is such love as this which will +quickly bring two heterogeneous beings to harmonize in temper and +disposition. It is such as this which will tame down the ferocity of +the tiger and triumph over the savage spirit of the hyena. Under its +operation the corsair has been sometimes arrested in his bold career, +the robber has been reformed, and the arm of the bloodthirsty villain +has been withholden from an infliction of the deadly blow. + +When, however, such love is unfortunate, and fails to win its object, +there comes perhaps one of the heaviest blows to which mortality is +subject; then does it become necessary to gather up the shattered +resources of mind and body to withstand the storm which is +overwhelming us with calamity. This is a period fraught with infinite +danger even to the character of man. At such a time we seem suddenly +arrested in our mid career by the cruel hand of misfortune. The +bright, the delusive prospects which we beheld reflected in the mirror +of hope, have suddenly disappeared from the mental vision. But a +little while ago and we were like him who had wandered into the +splendid repository of the works of art, illumined by the bright lamp +whose radiant light was beautifully reflected from the thousand +polished surfaces which glittered around; now we are like him in that +same mazy hall, with his lamp extinguished and total darkness around. + +The very sun of our moral and social existence seems suddenly struck +from the heavens, and well may we in the agony of despair exclaim, +"how stale, flat, and unprofitable" is this world to us now. When we +wander abroad, how dismal is the prospect which lies before us. The +sun, and the moon with her nightly train, seem to have lost that +celestial spirit which a little while ago had made us gaze upon them +in silent and pensive bliss. Our homes, our firesides, our friends +have lost the charm which can neutralize woe; for a period the desire +for fame and honor is lost, and the voice of ambition is silenced +within. + + "Look where he comes. In this embowered alcove + Stand close concealed and see a statue move; + Lips busy and eyes fixed, foot falling slow, + Arms hanging idly down, hands clasped below! + That tongue is silent now; that silent tongue + Could argue once, could jest or join the song-- + Could give advice, could censure or commend, + Or charm the sorrows of a drooping friend. + Now neither healthy wilds, nor scenes as fair + As ever recompensed the peasant's care, + Nor gales that catch the scent of blooming groves + And waft it to the mourner, as he roves, + Can call up life into his faded eye,-- + That passes all he sees unheeded by." + +This period of agony which I have just described has often infused the +gall of bitterness into the cup of life, turned benevolence into +misanthropy, soured the temper, and destroyed the tranquillity of +existence. When the shock has come after matrimonial engagement, which +has been ended by woman's caprice, or the wily artifices of the +mischief-making meddler, then the stroke is still more dreadful, and +productive of effects still more marked in the character of the man; +and oftentimes is the conduct of that being, who stands an anomaly in +the eyes of the world, to be traced back to this cause. We have seen +an individual mysteriously settle down in our vicinage, immure himself +in his solitary mansion, shrink from the gaze of the world as from the +dragon's visage, and live as though life were a burden which was to +him insupportable. Pry into his history, and you will find, when you +have traced it out, that it was the treachery of her upon whom he had +lavished all the affections of his soul, which separated him from his +original home and happiness. Look again--there is another being whose +brilliant, but meteor like career, alarms the selfish statesman and +puzzles the philosopher. To-day, listening senates are hanging on his +words, and electrified by the magic of his soul-stirring eloquence. +To-morrow, in the social circle, he displays those powers of +fascination and attraction which fix the gaze of all on the play of +his features, while the brilliancy of his fancy and the vivid +corruscations of his wit and intellect, are delighting all around with +his wonder-working speech. + +At times he realizes the fable of Orpheus; he draws the very trees +after him, melts the hearts of stone that are around him, and makes +them forgive the wrongs which he has done--then his reason seems to be +dethroned, the very demon of malice enters his heart; his shafts of +calumny transfix alike friend and foe, and he traverses seas and +continents almost like the deluded victim of knight errantry, impelled +by a spirit which urges forward with irresistible impetuosity, whilst +it seems to have lost its destination. The world stands amazed whilst +this brilliant meteor is playing above the horizon. One ascribes his +course to the waywardness of nature, and calls him a _lusus naturæ_; +another traces his character to the diseases of the body; another +tells you he was ambitious, and that all his schemes of promotion and +self-aggrandizement were wrecked. + +But go to him who has shared his confidence, and nursed him in the +hours of his misfortune--to him who can best tell you his history, and +he will tell you his was a heart with feelings as intense and pure, as +ever were given to the heart of man; he will tell you that that heart +poured forth the mighty stream of its affections upon another, and +that his love, great as it was, was returned by that being,--when the +spoiler came, and then came mystery, converting the very affections of +the heart into the scorpions of the furies, and the garden of Eden +into a place of torment, which deranged his faculties and destroyed +the equilibrium of his mind; and that thus all those fitful moods +which puzzle the world, may be traced back to disappointed love. + +The effects which I have been describing as flowing from disappointed +love, are certainly of an extreme character, happening only in the +case of ardent temperaments, combined with a concurrence of +circumstances which generate intense and all absorbing affection for +the beloved object. In these cases, when all hope is entirely +eradicated, there is certainly a tendency to peevishness, fretfulness, +whim, suspicion and misanthropy; and against these consequences the +individual ought always to be on his guard. He should not charge to +the human race, or even to the whole sex, the vices which he thinks he +sees in a single individual. This is a case in which kind friends, +especially females, may do much to soothe and tranquillize the mind. +Women alone seem to have enough of that deep discernment, nice tact, +and generous sympathy, which can administer consolation to a wounded +heart and calm the irritated feelings of blasted hope. In the great +majority of cases however, the disappointed lover plunges into the +business and scenes of active life, forms new associations and +attachments, and quickly forgets his former love, without any +permanent effect being produced on the character by mere +disappointment. Man (says Dr. Cogan on the passions) rarely runs any +serious risk from disappointment in love. "If he have not speedy +recourse to the pistol or the rope, he will probably survive the +agonies under which the softer sex will gradually pine and die." + +I will now examine briefly, a few of the effects produced on the +character of the male, during the period of courtship in society, +organized as it is in this country and Europe,--and certainly one of +the most marked effects, is the strengthening of vanity and the +weakening of pride. As it is the province of man to woo and to win, +his constant aim must be to render himself agreeable to the object of +his affections. To gain her esteem, her approbation, _her love_, is +the object of all his efforts. Now this is vanity. The proudest heart, +the soul of sternest stuff, by the operation of this all subduing +passion of love, is made to yield--to become a candidate for the +praise of her whose affections he so much covets. In this condition we +are all more or less like Petrarch, who declared that "she (Laura) was +the motive and object of all his studies--that he coveted glory only +as it might secure _her esteem_--that she alone had taught him to +desire life, and to lift his thoughts towards heaven." In his +"Conversations with St. Augustin," he even confesses that he was more +ardent in his desire for the _Laurel Crown_, on account of its +affinity to the name of Laura. Now, although this vanity seeks the +approbation directly of but one, yet as she is regulated by the +opinion of the world, we quickly find it necessary to gain the good +opinion and esteem of those around us, in order, by their means, to +win the approbation of the object of our affections. Hence, however +proud the man, love and courtship will in the civilized countries of +our globe soon infuse a degree of vanity, which will temper his +overweening pride and make him more social, more loquacious, more +attentive to all the little courtesies of life, and much more cheerful +than he was before. In all the Mahommedan countries, where woman is +bought and locked up, and the alternately sweet and painful +solicitudes of love and courtship are never known--how proud, how +taciturn, how forbidding, unsocial and grave, is the character of man! +In France, where the influence of women is very great, how entirely +opposite is his character; there, vanity is his predominant trait. +Montesquieu, in his "Lettres Persannes," makes Usbeck say to Ibben, in +a letter from Paris, on the characters of the French and Persians, "It +must be allowed that the seraglio is better adapted for health than +for pleasure. It is a dull uniform kind of life, where every thing +turns upon subjection and duty; their very pleasures are grave, and +their pastimes solemn; and they seldom taste them but as so many +tokens of authority and dependence. The men in Persia are not so gay +as the French; there is not that freedom of mind and that appearance +of content which I meet with here in persons of all ranks and estates. +It is still worse in Turkey, where there are families, in which from +father to son, not one of them ever laughed from the foundation of the +monarchy." Now these proud, taciturn, grave beings would at once be +changed, by giving full freedom to the females, and rendering it +necessary for each one to woo, to interest and to delight her whom he +would make his wife. + +In fact, we have never learned so well to know the unappreciable, the +priceless value of a woman's heart, as when we have experienced the +pains and the pleasures, the doubts and hopes, pertaining to the +period of courtship. There have been instances of husbands losing all +affection for their wives in the quietude of their possession, but who +were suddenly roused to the most tormenting love, as soon as they saw +that their cold and brutal indifference had destroyed that affection +which they once possessed. Mrs. Jameson, in her very interesting +description of the beauties of Charles 2d, tells us that Lady +Chesterfield, the daughter of the Duke of Ormond, when first married +to Lord Chesterfield, received from him in return for her own pure, +warm and innocent affection, a negligent and frigid indifference, +which astonished, pained and humiliated her. Finding however that all +her tenderness was lavished in vain, mingled pique and disgust +succeeded to her first affection and admiration: and in this condition +she was suddenly taken by her husband to the Court of Charles the 2d, +where, from a neglected wife, living in privacy and even in poverty, +she suddenly became a reigning beauty. Lord Chesterfield, when he +found his charming wife universally admired, was one of the first to +sigh for her; and his passion rose to such a height, that casting +aside the fear of ridicule, he endeavored to convince her by the most +public attentions, that his feelings towards her were entirely +changed. And let the result be a warning to all negligent +husbands.--"Unfortunately," says Mrs. J., "it was now too late: the +heart he had wounded, chilled and rejected, either could not, or would +not be recalled; he found himself slighted in his turn, and treated +with the most provoking and the most determined coldness." + +The author of the "Journal of a Nobleman at the Congress of Vienna," +has given us a still more interesting and striking illustration of the +assertion which I have made, in the case of the Count and Countess of +Pletenburg, whom he saw in the gay circles of Vienna during the period +of the session of the Holy Alliance in that city. Pletenburg had +married, without much courtship or difficulty, a young and beautiful +woman, for the purpose of securing a fortune which had been left to +him, on the condition that he married before he was twenty-five. He +soon plunged into every kind of debauchery and dissipation, conceived +the greatest disgust for his lovely and loving wife of sixteen--left +her almost broken hearted, for the purpose of travelling in Europe, +returned after some years, saw her, and saw that she had ceased to +love him: then he loved in turn, and loved most violently and +hopelessly. He is thus described by the author of the Journal just +mentioned, who met with him at a party of the Countess Freck's in +Vienna. "The poor man has become an object of ridicule by the +servility of his devotion; always sighing, as at the age of eighteen, +and, as jealous as a sexagenarian, he never moves from her side. He is +ever taking up her gloves and her handkerchief, and pressing them to +his bosom in public. But all this tends only to increase the aversion +he has raised. Proscribed from the nuptial bed which he had so long +disdained, he complains of this rigor in prose, and laments his fate +in verse. In short, his enthusiasm has become so great, that if it +continues for any length of time, his intellect must become affected +by it." And thus is it that the disenthralment of woman will always +cause her to be more respected and loved, and by her influence on man +she will be sure to make him more agreeable, more social, less proud. + +Besides this, virtuous love has a tendency to improve the morals of +man, to increase his sympathies and call into play all his most tender +feelings. This moral tendency of love in the male, arises partly from +imitation of the virtues and character of her whom we love; but mostly +from that exquisite, indescribable pleasure, which one in love feels, +from the performance of those acts of kindness and virtue which excite +the gratitude and esteem of the lady beloved. In this case his minute, +tender and ever anticipating attentions to the female, have an effect +on man similar to that which I have described as being produced on +woman by the relation of mother and child. + + "How oft the thrillings of transported joy + Have stolen on the heart, with life's warm tide, + When _she_ has deigned with approbating smile + To pay the effort of the wish to please! + How oft with sorrow's keen corroding pang + We've seen displeasure cloud her beauteous face! + As when the sun, obscured, would teach the world + The value of his genial noontide smile." + +I know of nothing so well calculated to soften the heart, to smooth +down the asperities of character, to excite all the kindly, +sympathetic and amiable feelings of our nature, as ardent affection +for a virtuous and pious female. Mr. Randolph in his letters to a +relation, has spoken with great force and propriety of this effect of +virtuous love. + +So far, I have been describing the nature of man's love, and the +effects which it produces on his character. The love of woman however, +is much more interesting, and if not more ardent, it is perhaps more +devoted, more tender and more constant than that of man. "Man," says +Irving, "is the creature of interest and ambition. His nature leads +him forth into the bustle and struggle of the world. Love is but the +embellishment of his early life, or a song piped in the intervals of +the acts. He seeks for fame, for fortune, for space in the world's +thoughts, and dominion over his fellow men. But a woman's whole life +is the history of the affections. The heart is her world; it is there +her ambition strives for empire--it is there her avarice seeks for +hidden treasures. She sends forth her sympathies on adventure; she +embarks her whole soul in the traffic of affection; and if +shipwrecked, her case is hopeless,--for it is a bankruptcy of the +heart." Madame de Stael tells us that love is but an episode in the +history of man's life, but it is the serious business of a woman's. +And a _man_, says Thomas, is more to a woman than a whole nation. +Under these circumstances, when a woman's affections have been won, +when, casting aside all passions, feelings, joys of earth, save for +one alone, she settles down, + + "With wings all folded and with silent tongue"-- + +to brood over dreams of felicity to be enjoyed with _him_--how +overwhelming, how crushing must his treachery be, to her all confiding +heart. Her bygone dreams of deep enthralling bliss are all a mockery. +Her pride is wounded, her modesty is shocked. For a time she may still +affect gaiety; she may travel the routine of apparent pleasure; but +the worm is at the heart, and she sinks at last a martyr to her +affections. Where one man falls a victim to love, there are perhaps at +least ten women. No wonder then she should be more inveterate in her +antipathies and animosities when she has once been wronged--when once +deceived she rarely forgives. + + Taught to conceal, the bursting heart desponds + Over its idol. + And if 'tis lost, life hath no more to bring, + And their revenge is as the tiger's spring, + Deadly, and quick, and crushing; yet as real + Torture is theirs--what they inflict they feel. + +But if the affections of a woman are once fixed on a man,--so +absorbing, so overwhelming do they become, that she will forgive the +stain which his conduct has inflicted on his own honor; she will +forgive him for her own ruin; she will pardon every thing in fine, +save the _loss of his love for her_. For this wrong, and for this +alone, will she conceive the most bitter and deadly hatred and +revenge. How admirably did Sir Walter Scott understand this trait in +woman's love. When in the heart of Mid Lothian, Effie Deans is visited +in prison by her sister, who makes mention of the being who had +disgraced and ruined her, but who nevertheless loved her and was +anxious to save her life, he makes Effie exclaim, in the overflowing +and forgiving fulness of her affection, "O Jeannie, if ye wad do good +to me at this moment, tell me every word that he said, and whether he +was sorry for poor Effie or no." A woman in this situation is +sometimes like Antigone in the Oedipus--she may become fond of the +_very misery_ which she feels for his sake. + +The constraint which is put upon the passion of love in woman, nurses +and invigorates it. Fear and modesty mingle inquietude with her love, +and double its force. The confession of her affection is of itself a +mighty sacrifice; but a woman is then only the more tender for the +great sacrifice which she has made. The more the confession has cost +her, the more fondly does she love him to whom she has made it. "She +attaches herself," says Thomas, "by her sacrifices. Virtuous, she +enjoys her denials; guilty, she glories in the favors she bestows. +Women therefore, when love is a passion, are more constant than men; +but when it is only an appetite they are more libertine. For then they +feel no more of those anxieties, those struggles, and that sweet shame +which impressed the delicious sentiment so strongly on their hearts." +With what facility a Ninon de l'Enclos and a Catherine of Russia would +change their lovers, every body knows; theirs was more of an appetite +than of an affection and sentiment, and where this is the case, +woman's love is more fickle than man's; in every other instance it is +more constant and faithful. + +I have thought proper, in this dissertation, to speak of the effects +produced upon the character of man during the period of courtship and +love; and we have seen that the effects in his case are decidedly +beneficial. I doubt whether the same may be asserted in all cases with +regard to woman. The time which a woman passes between the period of +her entrance into society and her marriage, is perhaps the most +important and the most perilous of her career. Having led a previous +life of retirement and comparative seclusion, unacquainted with the +wiles and stratagems of the world--endowed almost always with a vivid +imagination and warm feelings, she comes forth into society with +buoyant hopes and an animating gaiety, which throw a charm over the +whole face of nature, that conceals from view the snares and +deceptions of the world. She may then fall a sacrifice to some artful +deceiver, and suffer the pangs of disappointment, which I have just +been describing.[8] Or she may acquire a love of conquest in the wars +of Cupid--may become fascinated by the applauses and flattery of the +world, until nothing but the incense of adulation can satisfy her +perverted vanity. This period, is one, during which, a woman enjoys +more fame, more worldly glory, than during any other of her life. It +is not to be wondered at then, that she is so frequently seen +suppressing her feelings and smothering her affections, in order that +she may protract this period of her glory and reputation.[9] There is +nothing more seducing, more captivating to the vanity and imagination +of woman, than to see all hearts enchained, and rendering the willing +homage of love and admiration to her graces and accomplishments. But +she must beware, lest this delightful devotion implant in the heart a +lust for applause and notoriety, at the sacrifice of all the more +feminine and lovely virtues. And she must recollect too that the very +pain of disappointment, which she is obliged to inflict and to witness +from day to day, in her unfortunate lovers, is of itself calculated to +weaken and obtund her feelings and sympathies, and to generate +coldness and hardness of heart. Metaphysicians tell us that the active +feelings are strengthened, but the passive are weakened by too +frequent repetition--the frequent sight of beggary, of death, of pain +and misery of every description, when it is beyond our power to +administer relief, always tends to weaken our sympathy and harden the +heart. Now there can be no pain,--no anguish more exquisite, than that +which the disappointed lover feels in the melancholy hour of his +rejection; and the woman, who witnesses such scenes too frequently, +may at last lose the generous sympathies of her nature. Like the man +of deep feelings and keen sensibility, who the historian informs us, +was at first unwillingly dragged to the amphitheatre to witness the +horrid, the revolting combats of the gladiators, she may at last by +repetition so conquer the feelings of nature as even to experience a +savage delight in the pain and suffering of human sacrifice and human +woe. + +[Footnote 8: "It is easier for an artful man who is not in love, (says +Addison) to persuade his mistress he has a passion for her, and to +succeed in his pursuit, than for one who loves with the greatest +violence. True love has ten thousand griefs, impatiences and +resentments, that render a man unamiable in the eyes of the person +whose affection he solicits: besides that, it sinks his figure, gives +him fears, apprehensions and poorness of spirit, and often makes him +appear ridiculous, where he has a mind to recommend himself."] + +[Footnote 9: A lively French writer, says Mary Wolstoncraft, asks what +business women turned of forty can have in this world.] + +Before leaving this topic, I beg leave to add one word of advice to +the gay and fascinating belle, who is moving forward in her victorious +career,--conquering all hearts before her,--until, like the Juan of +Moliere, she may wish for other worlds, not for purposes of conquest, +like Alexander, but to win the hearts of those that inhabit them. A +lady in this situation ought always to be mindful of the great +influence which she is exerting on those around her. Her lightest +words are treasured up with the fondest zeal, her very defects are +sometimes considered as surpassing beauties. A principle advocated by +her, no matter how erroneous,--a doctrine advanced, no matter how +false, is apt to make an impression, sometimes deep and indelible, on +the susceptible hearts of her admirers. She should ever recollect that +the cause of virtue and of piety is peculiarly hers; and when she is +walking the golden round of her pleasures, shedding her influence on +all who approach her, let her be conscious to herself of no word or +deed which can injure the sacred cause of morality and religion. We +all know the irresistible influence of association. A writer of +antiquity said he would rather believe drunkenness no vice, than that +Plato could have one. The stuttering of Aristotle and the wry neck of +Alexander were admired on the same principle: and Des Cartes, the +great philosopher, declared he had a partiality for persons who +squinted; and he says that in his endeavor to trace the cause of a +taste so whimsical, he at last recollected, that, when a boy, he had +been fond of a girl who had that blemish. I have rarely known a very +devoted lover who did not love all the peculiarities and even oddities +of his mistress. We are all like the Frenchman, whose mistress had a +_twisted nose_, of which the lover used to say, "C'est au moins la +plus belle irregularité du monde." Hence, for the very same reason +that Dr. Johnson remarks, "if there is any writer whose genius can +embellish impropriety, or whose authority can make error venerable, +_his_ works are the proper object of criticism,"--would I say, that if +there be any being whose opinions and actions form the + + "Glass + Wherein the noble youths do dress themselves," + +let such beings remember the nature and responsibility of their +station, and manage well the _talents_ which are committed to their +charge. I shall for the present, pass over all consideration of the +married state, with the sole remark, that in all ages and countries +the women love more constantly and more devotedly in that state than +the men, possessing a more exclusive and more engrossing affection, +and that their errors and infidelity have generally been the result, +not the cause, of those of the men. Hence, the more attentive, the +more sedulously tender and kind the husband is, the more virtuous, +affectionate and faithful the wife becomes. All over the world, the +woman who marries from love, covets, beyond every thing else, the +entire affections of her husband. He is all in all to her,--and it +will be only his indifference and infidelity which will ever alienate +her affections; then, in the spirit of chagrin and mortification, may +she bewail her lot, in the language of Dryden: + + "Cursed vassalage, + First idolized till love's hot fire be o'er, + Then slaves to those who courted us before." + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +DANCING, WALTZING, &c. + +J'ai toujours cru que le _bon_ n'etait que le _beau_ mis en +action.--_Rousseau_. + + +Amid the various changes in the customs and fashions of society, the +abolition of old, and the introduction of new modes, which an age +prolific in intelligent and important improvement has effected, it is +matter of surprise, that some of the engines of reform, some of the +batteries of satire, have never been unmasked upon the crude and +barbarous fashion of dancing. Start not, gentle reader, when I say +_barbarous_ fashion, for such dancing unquestionably is. Its very +origin is barbarous. In a rude state, when the untutored savage is +agitated by any strong emotion, as joy, patriotism, admiration, &c., +his first impulse is to caper and skip about like a grasshopper. Among +the records of the customs and manners of the most polished and +civilized nations of antiquity, we seek in vain for the importance and +admiration which attaches to this miscalled accomplishment at the +present day. The Romans, perhaps the most accomplished and polite of +the ancients, held the art in very low esteem. Indeed we find Cicero +striving with all the force of his matchless eloquence, to vindicate +his friend Muræna from the charge of being a dancer, preferred against +him by Cato. So conscious is he of the weight of the imputation, that +he makes it the subject of one branch of his defence, and, in a +digression, recounts the brilliant services and devoted patriotism of +his client's ancestors, to discountenance a charge affecting so +seriously, the value and dignity of his character. + + "Tempestivi convivii, amæni loci, + Multarum deliciarum, comes est extrema saltatio." + +The Greeks, we are told, held the art of dancing in higher estimation, +and it is said, considered graceful dancing one of the necessary +constituents to the character of an accomplished gentleman; but the +very word, and indeed the only one used by them to express the motion, +[Greek: orchêsis], signified _mimicry_; plainly intimating its +derivation from the buffoons and jesters of the stage, and +consequently it never could have had much popularity in their more +refined and elegant circles. As a religious rite it was in use, it +seems, among the ancient Jews, and in celebration of the worship of +the heathen deities of Greece and Rome, we find it only practised in +the orgies of Bacchus, a fact of itself sufficient to mark it as a +lewd, licentious and vulgar pastime. It was a favorite amusement of +the ancient Scythians, the Chinese, the Goths, the Vandals, the +Persians, and other barbarous nations of antiquity, and is yet in +practice among the modern French and Italians, who, first introducing +it in theatrical amusements, and then having carried the art to great +perfection, have now transplanted it to the fashionable circles of +domestic society. But it is rather in reference to its effects upon +the present constitution of society, and its awkward adaptation to the +chastened simplicity of the republican character, that I propose to +consider dancing, than in regard to its estimation among the ancients. + +Excellence in _national_ dances, _as such_, may deservedly be ranked +among the highest efforts of skill and grace. We discover much +elegance, certainly, in the easy and graceful evolutions of the +Spanish waltz. There is a charming vivacity in the romping gaiety of +the French gallopade; and even the oriental mazourka, is not devoid of +a certain graceful beauty. But they derive their interest from the +national and historical associations connected with them. We see the +haughty Spaniard, proud indeed, but pliant, aptly pictured in the +mysterious intricacy of the mazy waltz. The lively _gallop_ presents +to our mind at once, the reckless _nonchalance_ and chivalrous gaiety +of the Frenchman; and thus these dances come to us as faithful types +of their national origin. But why may we not be content to witness +this delineation of national characteristics upon our theatrical +boards? Why should we take them from their appropriate sphere, and +introduce them to the frivolous and undignified imitation of the +polite and refined? I do not know a scene more faithfully descriptive +of rude, boisterous, and unbecoming merriment, than an American ball +room. Place your hands upon your ears, and look down the hall. You +will see the most unmeaning grimaces--the most ridiculous contortions +of body in one quarter--while another view presents to you the +unwelcome picture of man, lordly man, fallen from his high estate, and +going through the laborious operations of the dance, with the farcical +solemnity of a monk, or the clownish rapture of a mountebank. People +may say what they please, about those only opposing this capering +vice, who cannot dance themselves. They may tell us, that Lord Byron +wrote his fretful satire upon waltzing, because his lordship could not +participate in that fashionable dance, owing to his _club foot_. They +may preach, that the ignorant alone complain of those accomplishments +which they cannot attain themselves; that the dances in practice, from +time immemorial, among our ancestors, were equally objectionable as +those we now adopt and admire, which certain bold critics, going +beyond their province, dare to denounce as dangerous innovations, +savoring of foreign modes and manners, licentious and demoralizing. +All this will not do, Mr. Editor. Dancing is dangerous, and _the waltz +especially_: and a virtuous and intelligent community will unite, I +feel assured, to frown these vicious amusements out of society, and +consign them to the barbarous regions whence they were so irreverently +introduced among us. + +This mania for dancing, waltzing, &c., is the bane of every social +circle. Do you go to pass the evening sociably with your friend, where +you have a vague instinctive idea you will meet the pretty creature +you passed in the street, on the Thursday previous--you will +enter--your fondest anticipations are realized--you draw your chair +towards her, and fall into a charming tete-a-tete, with the dear +object for whom you already conceive a nascent passion--who has made +you lose a whole week's sleep, break your mirror, tear your black silk +_bonnet de nuit_ into fragments, and kick your faithful _valet de +chambre_ down stairs, because your laundress has failed to impart the +due degree of rigidity to your collar linen. Now you promise yourself +a full indemnity for all the _contre-temps_ of the past week--you are +just arranging a most pleasant excursion with the lady the next +afternoon, when, alas! the vanity of human hopes! an impertinent +coxcomb, whose only merit consists in a well arranged dress and +capacious whiskers, demands the honor of the lady's hand for the next +waltz. Odious, detested waltz! You have too much taste to dance +yourself: your _inamorata_, however, must yield to the unrelenting +tyranny of fashion, and you are left in a posture of _amiable_ +abstraction, musing on the provoking scene enacting before you. To sit +quietly and await the termination of the dance, might not be an +unattainable effort of patience; but to see her partner's place +supplied again and again--you take leave of hope and the company +together, and pass the next week to the manifest infringement of your +own peace of mind, and your aforesaid ill-fated valet's physical +comforts. + +Now, Mr. Messenger, I take you to be a sensible and discreet man, +anxious for the purity of public taste, and ever vigilant to rid +society of all nuisances; I doubt not, therefore, that I shall find in +you, an able and willing coadjutor in the remedy I propose to apply, +for the extirpation of this unspeakable annoyance; and I hope the +undignified, graceless, dancing fraternity, aye, and _sisterhood_ too, +(for sorry am I to say, the ladies are the most _untiring_ patrons of +this capering vice,) will take the hint forthwith. I propose, through +the "Messenger," to give to the public the result of my best labors to +eradicate this odious practice from society. I know not if my efforts +will ever receive their deserved reward. The public is an ungrateful +master, and ever incredulous and uncourteous when you propose to +reform him. It is not, however, the part of a philanthropist and +reformer, to abate his efforts on that account. Immortality will be +the price of success, and posterity will pay it. Had Columbus +abandoned his attempts to explore the western main, because bigoted +and ignorant monarchs would not accept the world he offered them, we +might now have been the wretched subjects of some European despot +instead of the countrymen of Washington, under a government of equal +laws, and in a land of liberty. + +On a visit a few evenings ago, to a maiden aunt, I was glad to find, +that among the ladies assembled on the occasion, the utmost unanimity +prevailed as to the importance and utility of the proposed reform. +Miss Betsy Bloomever declared it would be one of the most extensively +beneficial reformations which the world has witnessed, since the +proscription of hoops, stays, and stomachers. Miss Debby Creaktone +pronounced it a more important revolution than that achieved by +Signorina Garcia, in the musical style of the American vocalists; and +Miss Judith Knowell said, that in her estimation, (and she was a +Protestant Episcopalian, she added,) Luther's reformation would sink +to insignificance before it. + +You can imagine my gratification, Mr. Messenger, at so numerous and so +respectable an accession to my opinions; a fact upon which I could not +forbear to felicitate myself, to Miss Sophronisba Grundy, adding, that +I was confident my exertions would now be duly appreciated by an +enlightened public, when it should be apprised, that I was aided in my +labors by ladies, from whose _age_ and _experience_, so much might be +expected, when----conceive my astonishment, the whole group rose upon +me, with unanimous rage; and declared it was a positive insult-- + +"Age and experience indeed! humph! Call me _old_ at thirty-five!" +screamed Miss Deborah. + +"And _me_, at forty--only five years more!" shouted Miss Betsy. + +"And _I_," said Miss Judith, scornfully, "that will let you know, Sir, +I shall not be thirty-five till the 29th day of June next." + +"Impudence!" said Miss Primrose. + +"Insult!" echoed Miss Grundy. + +In short, I found it impossible, Mr. Messenger, to compose the +troubled elements, thus innocently put in motion, and was forced to +retire. All my attempts at expostulation and entreaty, being overborne +and silenced by the volume of voice and clamor sent after me--my aunt +even intimating to me, at the hall door, that I must not visit her +house, unless I could better estimate the _feelings_ of her friends, +who certainly had much cause to complain of my wanton outrage upon +them. + +I was electrified--was astounded--and tossed on my pillow the whole +night, vainly laboring to unravel the inexplicable problem. That +ladies of such seeming propriety, should evince such passion at an +allusion to that to which I considered them _alone_ indebted, for any +consequence they might have in the world, was more than my philosophy +could estimate, or my ingenuity explain. + +As some compensation, however, for the defection of these _young_ +ladies with delicate _feelings_, I am rejoiced to find that the sex +can appreciate my exertions in the cause of elegance and refinement, +and are determined to aid me in my patriotic labors. Last evening the +penny post brought me the two following letters, on the subject of the +great reformation of manners in which we are engaged; and as they +strengthen my opinions with great force of argument, I am unwilling to +suppress them, and beg leave you will give them at once to the dear +public, whose welfare I have so much at heart. With the kind and very +welcome invitation contained in the first, I shall certainly comply, +and hope ere long, to give you the result of the deliberations of a +body, from whose wisdom, (I will not say _age_ or _experience_,) so +much may be justly expected; and in the mean while, I am very +faithfully, yours and the public's dear friend, + +ANTHONY ABSOLUTE. + + +_Mr. Absolute:_ + +I am secretary to the "Society of Young Ladies for the suppression of +vulgar practices, and the promotion of elegance and gentility among +young men," and am directed by a resolution of the Society, at its +last meeting in Quality Hall, to convey to you the assurance of their +hearty good will and ready co-operation, in your philanthropic efforts +in the dancing reformation. Our society has long deplored the absence +of some efficient and active measures for the suppression of a +practice so derogatory to the dignified grandeur of the human form and +character, and congratulate themselves and their co-laborers in the +same cause, upon the highly important and gratifying results, which +your beneficent zeal and energy promise. They have ever since the +formation of their society, regarded the practice of dancing--of +waltzing particularly, and especially in private circles--as seriously +obstructive to that "_march_ of mind," which is elsewhere effecting +such important improvements in the domestic economy and wealth of +nations; and hail with delighted enthusiasm the dawn of a brighter and +better period, in our beloved country. An anti-dancing clause is found +in the constitution of our society. Our members have all abandoned the +custom very long ago; indeed, our president, among the oldest of our +number, being nearly sixty years of age, says, that at the last +dancing party she attended, she saw General Washington dance a minuet +with her aunt Fanny. There was, she says, so much stately grace in +that dance, that she would not object to seeing minuets danced always; +but nothing _else_. We all agree in unanimous condemnation of the +rapid, whirling, graceless waltzes, hops, gallops, and all those +Frenchified follies, which are now, alas! by the depraved taste of the +day, considered so fashionable. + +Pray do not spare any pains to wipe off this dreadful stain upon our +domestic customs and manners, and let not dancing be any longer urged +against us as a national reproach. The next meeting of our society +will be held on the afternoon of this day week, when I am directed to +invite your attendance. Pray do not fail to come and give us your aid +in working the speedy extirmination of this great vice from among us. +And, in the meantime, wishing you perfect success in your virtuous +labors, I remain your friend, in the sympathy which unites the +advocates of a common cause. + +CAROLINE CAMFIELD, _Secretary_. + + +_Mr. Absolute:_ + +Hearing of your intended efforts, by a series of essays, and by +forming societies throughout the country, to draw the public attention +to the demoralizing tendency and intrinsic ungentility of dancing, I +cannot forbear to wish you entire success, in a reformation fraught +with the best interests of society. + +I am a young lady of respectable connexions, of some reading, more +property, and, unless my glass plays me false, of a person quite +agreeable. With youth and these advantages, one would think I could +get along very well among the patrons of dancing; but you must know I +never could dance _fashionably_, and as no body dances otherwise, the +consequence is, that I go to party after party, and never dance at +all. Pa sent me to the dancing school almost a whole quarter, but I +had hardly in that time learned more than the positions, when our +master dislocated his ankle joint in teaching one of the scholars (a +fat Dutch girl from the mountains,) the French gallopade, and since +then, we have never got another one in our neighborhood. How much more +sociable it is to pass the evening in agreeable conversation, in which +all can participate, than by dancing, to gratify one part of the +company at the expense of the other. + +Lord Chesterfield, (whose letters I have sometimes read,) advises his +son never to play on any musical instrument. It is an accomplishment, +he says, of the necessitous or vulgar. If he wants to hear music, he +directs him to send for a professed performer, and pay him for his +services. Thus ought it be in regard to dancing. Confine it to the +circus or theatre, and society will not be annoyed by the practice. +Until this is done, rely upon it, Mr. Absolute, none of your disciples +will do more to drive it from the polished circles of domestic +society, than your obedient servant, + +SALLY SOBERLY. + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LION-IZING. A TALE. + +BY EDGAR A. POE. + + ------------all people went + Upon their ten toes in wild wonderment. + _Bishop Hall's Satires_. + + +I am--that is to say, I _was_, a great man. But I am neither the +author of Junius, nor the man in the mask--for my name is Thomas +Smith, and I was born somewhere in the city of Fum-Fudge. The first +action of my life was the taking hold of my nose with both hands. My +mother saw this and called me a genius. My father wept for joy, and +bought me a treatise on Nosology. Before I was breeched I had not only +mastered the treatise, but had collected into a common-place book all +that is said on the subject, by Pliny, Aristotle, Alexander Ross, +Minutius Felix, Hermanus Pictorius, Del Rio, Villarêt, Bartholinus, +and Sir Thomas Browne. + +I now began to feel my way in the science, and soon came to +understand, that, provided a man had a nose sufficiently big, he +might, by merely following it, arrive at a Lionship. But my attention +was not confined to theories alone. Every morning I took a dram or +two, and gave my proboscis a couple of pulls. When I came of age my +father sent for me to his study. + +'My son'--said he--'what is the chief end of your existence?' + +'Father'--I said--'it is the study of Nosology.' + +'And what, Thomas'--he continued--'is Nosology?' + +'Sir'--I replied--'it is the Science of Noses.' + +'And can you tell me'--he asked--'what is the meaning of a nose?' + +'A nose, my father'--said I--'has been variously defined, by about a +thousand different authors. It is now noon, or thereabouts. We shall +therefore have time enough to get through with them all by midnight. +To commence:--The nose, according to Bartholinus, is that +protuberance, that bump, that excrescence, that'---- + +'That will do Thomas'--said my father. 'I am positively thunderstruck +at the extent of your information--I am, upon my soul. Come here! (and +he took me by the arm.) Your education may be considered as finished, +and it is high time you should scuffle for yourself--so--so--so (here +he kicked me down stairs and out of the door,) so get out of my house, +and God bless you!' + +As I felt within me the divine _afflatus_, I considered this accident +rather fortunate than otherwise, and determined to follow my nose. So +I gave it a pull or two, and wrote a pamphlet on Nosology. All +Fum-Fudge was in an uproar. + +'Wonderful genius!'--said the Quarterly. + +'Superb physiologist!'--said the New Monthly. + +'Fine writer!'--said the Edinburg. + +'Great man!'--said Blackwood. + +'_Who_ can he be?'--said Mrs. Bas-Bleu. + +'_What_ can he be?'--said big Miss Bas-Bleu. + +'_Where_ can he be?'--said little Miss Bas-Bleu. + +But I paid them no manner of attention, and walked into the shop of an +artist. + +The Duchess of Bless-my-soul was sitting for her portrait. The +Marchioness of So-and-so was holding the Duchess's poodle. The Earl of +This-and-that was flirting with her salts, and His Royal Highness of +Touch-me-not was standing behind her chair. I merely walked towards +the artist, and held up my proboscis. + +'O beautiful!'--sighed the Duchess of Bless-my-soul. + +'O pretty!'--lisped the Marchioness of So-and-so. + +'Horrible!'--groaned the Earl of This-and-that. + +'Abominable!'--growled his Highness of Touch-me-not. + +'What will you take for it?'--said the artist. + +'A thousand pounds'--said I, sitting down. + +'A thousand pounds?'--he inquired, turning the nose to the light. + +'Precisely'--said I. + +'Beautiful!'--said he, looking at the nose. + +'A thousand pounds'--said I, twisting it to one side. + +'Admirable!'--said he. + +'A thousand pounds'--said I. + +'You shall have them'-said he--'what a piece of Virtû!' So he paid me +the money, and made a sketch of my nose. I took rooms in Jermyn +street, sent his Majesty the ninety-ninth edition of the Nosology with +a portrait of the author, and his Royal Highness of Touch-me-not +invited me to dinner. + +We were all Lions and _Recherchés_. + +There was a Grand Turk from Stamboul. He said that the angels were +horses, cocks, and bulls--that somebody in the sixth heaven had +seventy thousand heads and seventy thousand tongues--and that the +earth was held up by a sky-blue cow with four hundred horns. + +There was Sir Positive Paradox. He said that all fools were +philosophers, and all philosophers were fools. + +There was a writer on Ethics. He talked of Fire, Unity, and +Atoms--Bi-part, and Pre-existent soul--Affinity and Discord--Primitive +Intelligence and Homoomeria. + +There was Theologos Theology. He talked of Eusebius and +Arianus--Heresy and the Council of Nice--Consubstantialism, Homousios, +and Homouioisios. + +There was Fricassée from the Rocher de Cancale. He mentioned Latour, +Markbrunnen and Mareschino--Muriton of red tongue, and Cauliflowers +with Velouté sauce--veal _à la_ St. Menehoult, Marinade _à la_ St. +Florentin, and orange jellies _en mosaiques_. + +There was Signor Tintontintino from Florence. He spoke of Cimabue, +Arpino, Carpaccio, and Argostino--the gloom of Caravaggio--the amenity +of Albano--the golden glories of Titian--the frows of Rubens, and the +waggeries of Jan Steen. + +There was the great Geologist Feltzpar. He talked of Hornblende, +Mica-slate, Quartz, Schist, Schorl, and Pudding-stone. + +There was the President of the Fum-Fudge University. He said that the +moon was called Bendis in Thrace, Bubastis in Egypt, Dian in Rome, and +Artemis in Greece. + +There was Delphinus Polyglot. He told us what had become of the +eighty-three lost tragedies of Æschylus--of the fifty-four orations of +Isæus--of the three hundred and ninety-one speeches of Lysias--of the +hundred and eighty treatises of Theophrastus--of the eighth book of +the Conic Sections of Apollonius--of Pindar's Hymns and Dithyrambics, +and the five and forty Tragedies of Homer Junior. + +There was a modern Platonist. He quoted Porphyry, Iamblichus, +Plotinus, Proclus, Hierocles, Maximus, Tyrius, and Syrianus. + +There was a human-perfectibility man. He quoted Turgot, Price, +Priestly, Condorcet, De Staël, and the "Ambitious Student in rather +ill health." + +There was myself. I talked of Pictorius, Del Rio, Alexander Ross, +Minutius Felix, Bartholinus, Sir Thos. Browne, and the Science of +Noses. + +'Marvellous clever man!'--said his Highness. + +'Superb!'--said the guests: and the next morning her Grace of +Bless-my-soul paid me a visit. + +'Will you go to Almacks, pretty creature?' she said. + +'Certainly'--said I. 'Nose and all?'--she asked. + +'Positively'--I replied. + +'Here then is a card'--she said--'shall I say you will be there?' + +'Dear Duchess! with all my heart.' + +'Pshaw! no--but with all your nose?' + +'Every bit of it, my life,'--said I. So I gave it a pull or two, and +found myself at Almacks. The rooms were crowded to suffocation. + +'He is coming!'--said somebody on the stair case. + +'He is coming!'--said somebody farther up. + +'He is coming!'--said somebody farther still. + +'He is come!'--said the Duchess--'he is come, the little love!' And +she caught me by both hands, and looked me in the nose. + +'Ah joli!'--said Mademoiselle Pas Seul. + +'Dios guarda!'--said Don Stiletto. + +'Diavolo!'--said Count Capricornuto. + +'Tousand Teufel!'--said Baron Bludenuff. + +'Tweedle-dee--tweedle-dee--tweedle-dum!' said the orchestra. + +'Ah joli!--Dios guarda!--Diavolo!--and Tousand Teufel!' repeated +Mademoiselle Pas Seul, Don Stiletto, Count Capricornuto, and Baron +Bludenuff. It was too bad--it was not to be borne. I grew angry. + +'Sir!'--said I to the Baron--'you are a baboon.' + +'Sir!'--replied he, after a pause,--'Donner and Blitzen!' + +This was sufficient. The next morning I shot off his nose at six +o'clock, and then called upon my friends. + +'Bête!'--said the first. + +'Fool!'--said the second. + +'Ninny!'--said the third. + +'Dolt!'--said the fourth. + +'Noodle!'--said the fifth. + +'Ass!'--said the sixth. + +'Be off!'--said the seventh. + +At all this I felt mortified, and called upon my father. + +'Father'--I said--'what is the chief end of my existence!' + +'My son'--he replied--'it is still the study of Nosology. But in +hitting the Baron's nose you have overshot your mark. You have a fine +nose it is true, but then Bludenuff has none. You are d----d, and he +has become the Lion of the day. In Fum-Fudge great is a Lion with a +proboscis, but greater by far is a Lion with no proboscis at all.' + + + + + For the Southern Literary Messenger. + +LIONEL GRANBY. + +CHAP. I. + + What am I? how produced, and for what end? + Whence drew I being? to what period tend? + _Artbuthnot_. + + +My name is Lionel Granby. I was the second and youngest son of the +Honorable Edmund Granby, a gentleman distinguished for his polished +education and stately aristocracy. The earliest associations of my +eventful life, steal from memory more of joyousness than of pain; and +gathering in a gilded horizon of light around the darkness of my +destiny, they whisper a consolation which despair cannot efface, nor +misfortune obliterate. + +Chalgrave, (an ominous name for a patrician family,) was the proud +mansion of my ancestors. It was a huge and gnarled pile of Dutch +brick, surrounded by a cumbrous wall of the same material. Situated on +the western side of Chesapeake Bay, it frowned with stubborn +misanthropy, on the mingled beauty which softened the silent +landscape. It stood alone in the silence of its grandeur,--cold, +fearful and noiseless. A broad and level plain swept round its base, +dotted into life with the cottages of my father's numerous slaves. +From them sprung the only voices which soothed the chilled solitude of +the scene. Here, at all times might be heard the merry laugh, the +jocund song, or the unalloyed mirth of alternate ease and idleness. +One of those noble and beautiful rivers, which dally, as if it scorned +to arise from an humble rivulet, with the bosom of the Chesapeake, +gushed up its full waters fresh as in the morning of its creation. +Much rude and incongruous taste disfigured the interior of Chalgrave. +A dark and gloomy heaviness sate on the antique wainscotting, the +massy sofas, and the blackened windows. From the dinner hall, the +portraits of my ancestors looked down, as if in contempt on the +degeneracy of modern times. Here was a cavalier, with flowing locks +and iron-bound brow, who had lost his life in the memorable field of +Naseby. Opposite to him, was the stiff and rigid portrait of a grave +and thoughtful face. He was one of those inflexible and independent +lawyers, whose moral courage had labored in the war of our revolution, +and whose inflexible spirit had inspired successful resistance. +Mothers with children in their arms; infants with toys, and belles +with flowers and books, filled the wall alike with vermillion and +smiles. + +The number _seven_ was curiously interwoven, in the circumstances of +my birth. I was born on the seventh day of the seventh month, at seven +o'clock, being the seventh of May. In our old family Bible, I find the +record of my birth in my father's hand writing, followed with this +fearful sentence. "Curse him not, oh God! with the ---- of our +family." Amid the desolations of despair--the anguish of broken +hearted affliction, and the contempt of the world, I turn to the +gentle and joyous hours of my childhood, even as the "hart which +panteth after the water brooks." My memory is my heart, and my +affections hourly trace themselves on its index. My mother's dark and +deep blue eye, even now beams over her wretched child, and I live +alone in the regenerative charity of this blessed passion. + +I have a faint and indistinct recollection of my father's death and +burial. The solemn ceremony of his funeral, and the dull and harsh +sound of the earth as it touched his coffin, deeply affected my +youthful spirits. I cried bitterly in the arms of my old nurse, and +wondered at my mother's chilled and tearless eye. My father was dead! +He had been stern and imperious to me; and as my gratitude was no +reasoning power, I soon laughed brightly again in the serious and +melancholy face of my mother. My old nurse Ellen, had lived in the +Granby family for three successive generations, and was addressed by +the endearing epithet of "Mammy." Her grandson, a well formed and +athletic youth, named Scipio, four years older than myself, had been +given to me by my father, and I soon learned the deep and abiding +fidelity of his affection. He was my friend, companion and slave; and +I thank God! that the pride of dominion never insulted or degraded +him. In his obedience, he was dignified; and in his devotion, ardent, +generous and sincere. He taught me to ride the unbroken colt--to steer +the frail periogue, and to fish with success for the active boneta. +According to the custom in Virginia, he did no service but wait on his +young master. Thus separated from the great mass of my father's +slaves, he grew into manhood with a gentleness of character and a +dignity of address which would have honored the proudest gentleman in +the state. + +My old uncle Charles, who was one of the happiest and most dignified +specimens of the "decayed gentleman," had found a resting place for +his adversity in the Chalgrave family. He had been a Colonel in the +militia; and having on one occasion, performed with his whole regiment +before an admiring _court yard_, the difficult and vexatious manoeuvre +of "the hollow square," he instantly resigned his commission; and +under the shade of his laurels, he lamented the decay of military +spirit, and the ignorance of the officers. The "hollow square," was +the first mathematical figure I learned. Every thing in nature was +pressed by my uncle into this fortified figure (as he called it,) of +fortification. The trees, the flowers, the grass plats, backgammon +men,--and the flies trained with honey, presented the solemn outline +of my uncle's pride and learning. His peculiarities were few, and +deeply tinctured with enthusiasm. As an antiquary alone, in the cause +of Virginian history, he was bigoted, obstinate and credulous; and, +considered as the first of books, "the Metamorphoses of Ovid, done +into English by Mr. George Sandys, the company's treasurer." He +contended that Clayton, the botanist, was greater in learning, than +Linnæus; and, told with much indignation, the minutiæ of Clayton's +quarrel with Gronovius, the Amsterdam printer. My uncle was +experienced in the diseases of dogs and horses, and perfectly familiar +with the technical jargon of the racing calendar. He had travelled in +Europe, but would never mention the incidents of his tour, except to +inform his auditory that the best saddles were made in London, and the +finest pointers were bred at Padua. Yet my uncle had learning, taste +and erudition, which he guarded, from every profane eye, with a +repulsive and dogged obstinacy; and the few flashes which occasionally +broke from him, glittered like the trembling rays which play around +the edge of some sombre cloud. As an admirer of the fair, he was +courteous, dreamy and fantastic, and would ever and anon, refer, for +an evidence of his family gallantry, to the speech of one Sir Danvers +Granby, who was a commissioner under Henry VIII, for dissolving the +nunneries. When the nuns were shivering in the rude gaze of the +populace, Sir Danvers, looked at them with tears in his eyes, +exclaiming, "God bless you! I could marry you all, if I did not adore +you!" This story my uncle told with a smile and a bow. + +My gallant, gifted, and noble brother Frederick! how bright was the +star which shone over thy boyhood! Alas! that its flickering light +should only beam o'er thy pallid couch!--He was several years my +senior, and had been sent to Europe for the purpose of acquiring a +military education, but had returned at the age of nineteen with a +broken and impaired constitution. He was studious, solitary and +reserved; while the hectic flush of consumption, which irradiated his +cheek, nerved alike the fortitude of his character, and awakened the +sympathy of every eye. His heart was gentle, though his studies were +severe--and he saved from the wreck which ambition ever makes of +feeling, no jewel so rich as the untainted tenderness of his +character. He had become a member of the bar; and I have often gazed +on his high and marbled brow, as a living monument, on which destiny +had inscribed its fiat of despair. Political life! that maddening +turmoil of empty nothingness! was the goal on which he had fixed his +dream of hope; and, though ill health prostrated him to the earth, his +sunny smile breathed a freshness, and a gloom, as brilliant, and as +melancholy as the tremulous twilight of an autumn sky. He cared naught +for wealth, love or pleasure. Ambition was the demon which moved +around him, in a track of its own desolation; and though beauty had +lured him almost to the confines of matrimony, he could trample down +the sympathies of his nature beneath its despotic rule. + +My sister Lucy, was two years younger than myself; she was fair, +delicate, and singularly beautiful. Her raven and luxuriant hair, fell +in prodigal ringlets over a brow of Parian whiteness, giving that +struggling halo of beauty which darkness throws around the solitude of +the snow drift. She was deeply versed in the fashionable +accomplishments of female education, and had added to them the +acquirements of solid learning. The old library was the resort of her +solitary hours; and as her light and sylph-like form, would flit +through its darkened walls, fancy might easily personify her into +Fame, hovering over the tomb of Genius. + +The coachman, ostler, and dining room servants, are all important +characters in the _dramatis personæ_ of a Virginian household. With +them I was a pet. The first, taught me to drive--the second, initiated +me into the mysteries of Tree Hill and Broad Rock; while the third, +corrected with severity, any breach of etiquette or violation of +morals, inconsistent with his own or the Granby's dignity. + +Such was the Granby family. Where are they now? The spider has woven +her web, and the owl has built her nest in the crumbling walls of +Chalgrave. The silent grave reads but one lesson--for the breeze which +sighs over its dewy grass, tells me that _I_ alone, am the last of +that proud and gifted name. + +THETA. + + + + +DAGGER'S SPRINGS, + +IN THE COUNTY OF BOTETOURT, VIRGINIA. + + +Among the numerous watering places in Virginia, our attention has been +drawn to that which is named at the head of this notice, by several +individuals who tested its virtues during the last season, and who +speak highly of the situation and management of the Springs, and the +efficacy of its waters. The mineral qualities of these Springs have +been long known, and they have been resorted to for some years by +persons living in their vicinity. But the character and circumstances +of the original proprietor, a descendant of the early Dutch settlers +of the country, prevented their improvement until within the last year +or two. He had a full sense of the mineral treasure which enhanced the +value of his property, and refused all offers from those who wished to +purchase the site of the Springs; while he had not the means of +bringing them into profitable use, by erecting buildings for the +accommodation of visiters. Many individuals were, nevertheless, in the +habit of drinking the waters of the Springs during the warm season, +and of sojourning for a few days in the rude and imperfect dwellings +which he had erected: and with the moderate income thus obtained from +this mine of natural wealth, its sturdy proprietor seemed well +satisfied. At his death, his successors disposed of the Springs and +the adjacent lands to the present proprietors; and buildings were +erected last year, on a limited scale, with every regard to the +comfort of the traveller and the invalid. The consequences of a more +liberal arrangement were immediately felt. The number of visiters last +season exceeded the means of accommodation; and the managers have in +the interim, made the most active exertions to meet the growing +popularity of their establishment, having completed additional +apartments, which will enable them to provide for the comfort of one +hundred persons. The scenery in the vicinity of the Springs has been +described to us in glowing colors, as combining every variety of the +magnificent and the beautiful--and we have also been assured that the +fare and attendance are worthy of all praise; so that we feel safe in +recommending the enlarged establishment of the proprietors (Messrs. +Dibrell and Watkins,) to the attention of travellers for health or +pleasure. + +Dagger's Springs are situated within easy distances from some of the +most interesting towns in the Valley of Virginia--they are forty-five +miles from the White Sulphur; twenty-two from Lexington; eighteen from +Fincastle, and sixteen from Pattonsburg. The following letter from a +distinguished physician, affords all necessary information as to the +medicinal properties of the waters, and the management of the +establishment: + +_Danville, April 28, 1835_. + +I visited Dagger's Spring on the 24th of last July, and on the next +day proceeded to subject the water to a number of chemical tests. The +experiments performed, though not as full and as satisfactory as I +could have wished, were sufficient to demonstrate that the water +possesses highly valuable properties, and sufficient also to make us +somewhat acquainted with the _nature_ of those properties. The most +active mineral ingredients in the water are carbonated alkalies. In +this it differs materially from the White and Salt Sulphur, and is +more nearly assimilated in its qualities to the Red and Gray Sulphur. +It is however more decidedly alkaline than either of those Springs. +This peculiarity will ever recommend it to persons subject to +acidities of the stomach, and to the other concomitants of dyspepsia; +while the large quantity of hydrogen that it contains, will render it +useful in all of those complaints for which sulphur water is usually +prescribed. + +The following experiment was performed with the view of ascertaining +the quantity of gas contained in the water. Three measures of the +water were placed in a retort, and the bulb of the retort plunged in +water, heated to the temperature of 108 Fahrenheit. The gas, as it was +extricated, was received over mercury, in a graduated measure. The +result was, that the three measures of water yielded one measure of +gas. This gas was subsequently tested, and found to consist of +sulphuretted hydrogen, azote, and atmospheric air--principally of the +former. + +The presence of iron is not detected by the usual tests; but the +water, when treated with prussiate of potash, and subsequently with +sulphuric acid, yields a blue precipitate, which is evidently +prussiate of iron--the sulphuric acid having a stronger affinity for +potash than the prussic acid, disengages the latter. The acid thus +disengaged, unites with the iron in the water, and forms the prussiate +of iron or prussian blue. + +Although the water contains but about 36 grs. of mineral substances to +the gallon,[1] it acts, under certain circumstances, with great +promptness. It effects upon the system are invigorating: it promotes +digestion and improves the secretions generally; it strengthens +without producing an undue excitement, and may therefore be used +beneficially in some cases, in which the water of the White Sulphur, +from its stimulating properties, would prove destructive. + +[Footnote 1: The smaller of two springs at the Red Sulphur contains +about 60 grs. per gal. The larger, which is most used, does not +contain but about 24 grs. per gal.] + +I will only say in conclusion, that I was pleased with the manner in +which the establishment appeared to be conducted, with the spirit of +enterprise manifested, and the taste displayed in the plan of +improvement, which was kindly exhibited to me. I met with no situation +among the mountains susceptible of as great improvement as that +selected for the buildings. It may be made a second Eden. + +I am engaged in preparing a work for the press, in which this Spring +will be more particularly noticed, and attention directed to objects +of interest in the surrounding country. It would have been completed +before this, but for the peculiarities of my situation, which allow me +but little leisure for literary pursuits. + +I was told of another spring belonging to the establishment, from +which I was informed it was designed to supply the bathing house. From +the account given of it, I have no doubt but that it is highly +alkaline. I regret very much that it was not in my power to examine +and test its properties. + + + + +THE RED SULPHUR SPRINGS. + + +We have received, and shall insert in the next No. of the Messenger, a +continuation of the "_Visit to the Virginia Springs_," the first +portion of which will be found in the preceding pages. The second part +contains much valuable information, relating particularly to the Red +Sulphur, which has recently risen into importance under the management +of Mr. Burke, whose amiable and intelligent character is well known to +the citizens of Richmond. As we consider it important, that the +qualities of the healing waters which abound in this state, should be +made known as extensively as possible, we anticipate the more ample +information of our correspondent, by making the following extract from +a circular just issued by the proprietor of the Red Sulphur Springs, +(Mr. Burke): + +"In that species of pulmonary disease attended by hemorrhages, unless +the energies of life are completely exhausted, it never fails to +afford relief. Sometimes, when the pulse beats 110 to 115, and the +emaciated figure of the patient too plainly indicates the ravages made +by repeated hemorrhages, and the unavailing efforts of physicians to +arrest them, he comes to the Red Sulphur, drinks about four quarts of +the water in twenty-four hours, lives upon plain farinaceous articles +of diet, takes all the exercise his case will admit, and at the end of +that brief period, his pulse falls to 80 or 85;--his spirits revive, +he continues daily to improve, and almost invariably, to gain a pound +in weight every day. At the expiration of fifteen days, he becomes +renovated, and pours forth his gratitude, by extolling the virtues of +the waters on every occasion. This is the usual action of the waters, +but there are cases in which their advantages are not perceived for +two or three weeks. Such is the exhilarating effect of confidence and +hope, that he soon forgets his late deplorable condition, and becomes +guilty of some unhappy imprudence that endangers his prospects. + +"The luxuries of the table, or violent exercise, if indulged in, at +this crisis, will cause incalculable mischief. In affections of the +bronchia, this water, visited early, affords certain relief. In +asthma, it is highly valuable. In the early stage of genuine +phthisical consumption, it will arrest its progress; and, by repeating +the visit annually, and using the utmost self-denial, life may be +protracted for many years, and rendered comparatively comfortable; but +in the later stages, it is vain to hope for relief from any earthly +remedy; and it is therefore unwise to remove from the consolations and +comforts of home, the unfortunate patient, whose approaching +dissolution is apparent to all except himself and his nearest +relatives. + +"When the patient has alternate chills and fevers, copious night +sweats, and a pulse at 120 or 130; moreover, when it becomes necessary +to check diarrhoea by opiates, and to sustain his sinking strength by +juleps, what rational hope can be afforded by any remedy whatever? + +"In diseases of the liver, this water is highly efficacious. In +dropsy, rheumatism, gravel, gout, dyspepsia, tic doloreux, and +epilepsy, it has been used with advantage. In cutaneous diseases, it +seldom fails to effect a cure." + +From the same circular we learn, that the accommodations at the Red +Sulphur have been much enlarged since the last season, and that +provision has been made for the reception of two hundred and twenty +visiters, with their servants and horses. The efficacy of the waters +in cases of incipient consumption, renders this an important place of +resort for a large class of invalids, who may be assured of finding in +Mr. Burke, a humane and considerate entertainer. + + + + +FEMALE EDUCATION. + +Young Ladies Seminary, at Prince Edward Court House. + + +There is no subject which claims greater attention than the judicious +education of females. It has justly been considered by some of the +most eminent writers, of vast importance that the minds of the gentler +sex should be cultivated and enlarged by every practicable means; that +the _mothers_ of an enlightened nation should be well prepared to +train the mental faculties of their offspring; and that, as the +earliest intellectual as well as physical nutriment is derived from +the mother by the child, she should be fitted with care for her +responsible and momentous duty. Much greater attention is now bestowed +upon the culture of the female mind than formerly; and parents +generally seem more impressed with the propriety of giving to their +daughters a solid education. Accomplishments, which at one time seemed +to make up the sum of their acquirements, are beginning to be +considered as secondary to those studies which strengthen the +intellect and store the mind with useful knowledge. We have no doubt +that a change which carries such beneficial consequences into the +bosom of every well-ordered family, will gain ground. The importance +and the advantages of a thorough course of study for females, in the +present enlightened state of society, are too obvious to need +enforcement. The parts they have to act in this world's drama, require +that their early years of freedom from care and anxiety, should be +employed in preparation for the performance of the high duties of +their after lives, with ease, with dignity and usefulness. The time +has, we trust, arrived when the general cultivation of the female +intellect will be deemed, (as it is) absolutely necessary for her +happiness, and for the well-being of those whom providence may render +dependent upon her guidance, her councils, or her affections--when she +will be educated with a view to her becoming the companion, and not +the plaything of the other sex. The importance of her position in +civilized society, and the vast influence of her benignant qualities, +demand that she should be prepared to fill the one, and to exercise +the other with dignity and effect. + +Our attention has been called to this subject by the encomiums +bestowed by many intelligent individuals, on the "YOUNG LADIES +SEMINARY _at Prince Edward Court House, Va._," which is conducted by +Mr. E. Root, in the most satisfactory manner. This institution has +been established about four years, and has met with great success, as +is shown by the fact that it had upwards of one hundred pupils during +the past year. It has been the object of its director to fix upon a +thorough course of study, rigidly to be pursued, under the +superintendence of the best teachers in the various departments; +rendering solid study the main object of attention, but without +neglecting those ornamental branches which embellish and refine the +more important acquirements. Music and the French language are taught +by proficients in each, and in fact every means is afforded at this +seminary for giving young ladies a finished education. To build up an +institution of this description, where every important branch of study +is ably and faithfully imparted, is a work of no ordinary difficulty, +as it is one of great public benefit: and Mr. Root and his assistants +are deserving of public commendation for the manner in which this +establishment is conducted, divested as we believe it to be of the +faults too often found in such schools, and which have rendered the +epithet "Boarding School Miss," almost a term of contempt. We can +conscientiously recommend the Prince Edward Seminary, for its +efficient _method_ of instruction--not short and easy, but such as is +best adapted to the developement and strengthening of the mental +energies--for able and well qualified teachers--a discipline which +combines kindness and gentleness with order and propriety--a careful +attention to the manners and morals of the pupils--and moderate +expense. Believing such to be the characteristics of Mr. Root's +Seminary, we have deemed it our duty to call to it the public +attention by these brief remarks. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + +I PROMESSI SPOSI, or the Betrothed Lovers; a Milanese Story of the +Seventeenth Century: as translated for the Metropolitan, from the +Italian of Alessandro Manzoni, by G. W. Featherstonhaugh. Washington: +Stereotyped and published by Duff Green. 1834. 8vo. pp. 249. + +The appearance of this work strongly reminds us of the introductory +remarks with which the Edinburg Review, thirty years ago, prefaced its +annunciation of Waverley. We would gladly appropriate them, were it +fair to do so; but "honor among thieves!" Reviewers must not steal +from Reviewers; and what is it but theft, when he who borrows, can +never have anything worthy of acceptance to give in return? + +We may, nevertheless, so far imitate "the grand Napoleon of the realms +of criticism," as to congratulate our readers on the appearance of a +work, which promises to be the commencement of a new style in novel +writing. Since the days of Fielding, unimitated and inimitable--and of +Smollett, between whose different productions there was scarce a +family likeness, we have had a succession of _dynasties_ reigning over +the regions of romance. We have had the Ratcliffe dynasty, the +Edgeworth dynasty, and the Scott dynasty; each, like the family of the +Cæsars, passing from good to bad, and from bad to worse, until each +has run out. Partial movements in the provinces have occasionally set +up the standard of rival aspirants: but these have soon passed away. +Heroines from the bogs, and heroes from the highlands of Scotland, or +the Polish wilds, could not maintain their pretensions, though uniting +in themselves all that is admirable both in the civilized and the +savage character. Perhaps this was the reason. We like to read of +things that may a little remind us of what we have seen in real life. +Sir Charles Grandison in the Scottish Kilt, is a startling apparition. + +The younger D'Israeli has indeed, occasionally flashed upon us the +light of his capricious genius; but one of his caprices has been to +disappoint the hope that he had raised. He has shown us what he could +do, and that is all. Mr. Bulwer too, in a sort of freak of literary +radicalism, has set up for himself. He scorned to add to the number of +those who dress themselves in the cast-off habiliments of Scott; and +study, as at a glass, to make themselves like him, as if ambitious to +display their thefts. _He_ learned the craft of plagiarism in the +Spartan school, where _detection_ was the only disgrace. He would not +steal, not he, from any but "the poor man, who had nothing save one +little ewe lamb, that lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a +daughter." He would imitate none but himself, and draw from no other +models. His novels are all echoes of each other. There is hardly a +page which might not be known for his, nor a favorite character which +is not an exhibition of one of the phases of his _exquisite_ self. The +variety is between what he imagines himself to be, and what he +imagines that he might have been, had he been a cavalier of the +seventeenth century, or had circumstances made him a highwayman or a +murderer. We are aware that he denies all this, and may be unconscious +of it: but his identity can no more be mistaken than that of the +one-eyed companion of Hogarth's "idle apprentice." We are aware too, +that Mr. Bulwer is a member of a certain literary cabal, who aspire to +direct the public taste, and bring all the influence of wealth and +fashion and political connexion in aid of their pretensions. He is a +sort of literary Jack Cade. "His mouth is the law." We know that the +"amphitrion on l'on dire" is always the true amphitrion. But we never +expect to travel as caterers for a public journal. We in the south do +not do that sort of thing. We are not taught so to "raise the wind." +We are not up to perpetual motion, nor to the art of making our living +by taking our pleasure. We feel ourselves therefore under no +obligation to admire Mr. Rogers's poems, though he be a banker--nor +Mr. Bulwer's novels, nor himself, though he be a member of Parliament; +nor though his female _doublure_ Lady Blessington, "have the finest +bust," and "the prettiest foot," and be "the finest woman in London." +_We_ do not put the names of our fine women in the newspapers. The +business of female education with us, is not to qualify a woman to be +the head of a literary _coterie_, nor to figure in the journal of a +travelling coxcomb. We prepare her, as a wife, to make the home of a +good and wise and great man, the happiest place to him on earth. We +prepare her, as a mother, to form her son to walk in his father's +steps, and in turn, to take his place among the good and wise and +great. When we have done this, we have accomplished, if not _all_, at +least _the best_ that education can do. Her praise is found in the +happiness of her husband, and in the virtues and honors of her sons. +Her name is too sacred to be profaned by public breath. She is only +seen by that dim doubtful light, which, like "the majesty of +darkness," so much enhances true dignity. She finds her place by the +side of the "Mother of the Gracchi," and of her whom an English poet, +who well knew how to appreciate and how to praise female excellence, +has simply designated as + + "SIDNEY'S SISTER, PEMBROKE'S MOTHER." + +We much fear, that after all this, the author of the work before us +will have no reason to thank us for our praise. On the contrary, there +may be danger of involving him in the displeasure, which we may draw +upon ourselves from that same cabal, which has its members on both +sides of the Atlantic. "Ca me; Ca thee," is the order of the day. If +half the praise be due, which is lavished on the works that daily +issue from the press, we may live to see the writings which instructed +and delighted our youth, laid on the same shelf with Thomas Aquinas +and Duns Scotus. Men can no more read every thing than they can eat +every thing; and the _petits plats_, that are handed round +hot-and-hot, leave us no room to do honor to the roast beef of old +England, nor to the savory Virginia ham. But these are the food by +which the thews and sinews of manhood are best nourished. They at once +exercise and help digestion. Dyspepsia was not of their day. _It_ came +in with _French Gastronomy_. Are we mistaken in thinking, that we see +symptoms of a sort of intellectual dyspepsia, arising from the +incessant exhibition of the _bon bons_ and _kickshaws_ of the press? + +Well! here is something that will stick by the ribs; a work of which +we would try to give a sort of outline, but that it cannot be +abridged. The machinery of the story is not intricate, but each part +is necessary to the rest. To leave anything out is to tell nothing. + +It might be too much to say that this novel is, in every sense of the +word, original. The writer is obviously familiar with English +literature, and seems to have taken at least one hint from Sir Walter +Scott. The use made by that writer of the records and traditions of +times gone by, has suggested this hint. It naturally occurred to +Manzoni, a native of Italy, that much of the same sort of material was +to be found among the archives of the petty Italian states, now +blotted from the map of Europe. It is obvious that the collisions of +small states, though less interesting to the politician than those of +mighty nations, must afford more occasion for a display of individual +character, and the exercise of those passions which give romance its +highest interest. But what is known of the great and good men who +nobly acted their parts in these scenes, when the very theatre of +their acts is crushed and buried beneath the rubbish of revolution? To +drag them from beneath the ruins, and permit the world to dwell for a +moment on the contemplation of their virtues is a pious and +praiseworthy task. It is sad to think how the short lapse of two +centuries can disappoint the hope that cheered the last moments of the +patriot and the hero. "For his country he lived, for his country he +died;" his country was all to him; but his country has perished, and +his name has perished with it. With the civil wars of England we are +all familiar; and our hearts have glowed, and our tears have fallen, +in contemplating the virtues and the sufferings of those who acted in +those scenes; but, if we may credit the traditions imbodied in this +book, a contemporary history of the Italian Republics would display +characters yet more worthy of our admiration and our sympathy. The +Cardinal Borromeo is an historical character. The writer obviously +means to paint him as he was; and the annals of mankind may be +searched in vain for a more glorious example of the purity, the +enthusiasm, and the inspiration of virtue. + +We might suspect that something of a zeal for the honor of the Romish +Church had mingled itself in the rich coloring of this picture. But +Manzoni was as much alive, as Luther himself, to the abuses of that +church. In an episode, which will be found at page fifty-eight, he +discloses some, of the precise character of which we were not hitherto +aware. We knew that something was wrong, but what that something might +be, was never certainly known. The author has unveiled the mystery. He +has withdrawn a curtain, behind which we had never been permitted to +look. We had guessed, and we had read the guesses of others; but we +never knew precisely what was there. The moral coercion, more cruel +than bodily torture, by which a poor girl, the victim of the heartless +pride of her parents, without command, without even persuasion, (for +both it seems are forbidden) is driven to the cloister, that her +brother may have more ample means to uphold his hereditary honors; +this was a thing inscrutable and inconceivable to us. In reading such +works as Mrs. Sherwood's Nun, we feel that we are dealing with +conjectures. We turn to the scene exhibited in this work, and we +_know_ it to be real life. We would gladly grace our pages with it. It +would probably be read with more interest than any thing we can say; +but it is before the public, and we have no right to discharge our +debts to our readers, by giving them what is theirs already. We will +only pray their indulgence so far as to offer a short extract, as a +specimen of the writer's power. It is a picture of some of the horrors +of the plague, as it raged in Milan in the year 1628. It may serve to +show us that the pestilence, which lately stooped upon us, was in +comparison, an angel of mercy. + +The cars spoken of in the following extract, are those in which the +uncoffined bodies of the dead were borne to a common receptacle, +"naked for the most part, some badly wrapped up in dirty rags, heaped +up and folded together like a knot of serpents." The "monalti" were +men who, having had the plague, were considered exempt from future +danger, and were employed to bury the dead. + +"A lady came from the threshold of one of the houses, whose aspect +announced youth advanced, but not yet passed away. Her beauty was +obscured, but not obliterated, by distress and mortal languor; that +sort of beauty, at once majestic and soft, which is so conspicuous in +the Lombard race. She walked with pain, but did not stagger; her eyes +shed no tears, but bore marks of having done so abundantly. There was, +in her grief, a something inexpressibly quiet and deep, betokening a +soul imbued and filled with it. But it was not her own appearance +alone, that in the midst of so much wretchedness, marked her +especially for commiseration, and awakened in her favor a feeling now +deadened and worn out in all hearts. She bore in her arms a girl about +nine years old,--dead, but dressed in a white frock of spotless +purity, with her hair divided in front, as if her own hands had +adorned her for a feast, long promised as the reward of her goodness. +She held her, seated on one of her arms, with her breast upon the +lady's breast; and she might have been thought to be alive, but that +her young white hand hung heavy and lifeless on one side, like +wax-work, and her head lay upon her mother's shoulder, with an air of +abandonment heavier than that of sleep. Her mother! If the resemblance +had not proclaimed the relation, the distress of the survivor +announced it too plainly. + +"A coarse monalti drew near the lady, and silently offered to relieve +her from her burthen, but with an air of unwonted respect and +involuntary hesitancy. But she, with an action betokening neither +disgust nor scorn, drew back, and said, 'No; do not touch her now; I +must lay her on that car myself; take this.' She opened her hand, +showed a purse, and dropped it into his. She then continued: 'Promise +me not to take a thread from her, and to suffer no other to do so, and +to put her in the ground just as she is.' + +"The monalti placed his hand on his breast, and then with an +obsequious zeal, rather like one subdued by a new and strange emotion, +than as if prompted by the unexpected gift, he busied himself to make +room on the car for the little corpse. The lady placed her there, as +on a bed, laid her straight, kissed her cold brow, spread over her a +white sheet, and then spoke for the last time. 'Adieu, Cecilia! Rest +in peace! This evening we meet again, to part no more. Pray for us, my +child, and I will pray for thee, and for the rest. You,' added she to +the monalti, 'when you pass again at vespers, will come and take me +too, and not me alone.' + +"Having said this, she re-entered the house, and presently appeared at +the window, holding in her arms a still younger darling, alive, but +with the marks of death on its face. She stood, as if contemplating +the unworthy obsequies of the first, until the car moved, and while it +remained in sight, and then she disappeared. What remained, but to lay +her only surviving babe upon the bed, place herself by her side, and +die with her; even as the stately blossom, with the bud beside it on +its stem, falls before the scythe that levels all the plants in the +meadow." + +There is a power in this to which we do not scruple to give great +praise. We regret to say that the translation has many faults. We +lament it the more, because they are obviously faults of haste. The +translator, we fear, was hungry; a misfortune with which we know how +to sympathize. The style is, for the most part, Italian, in English +words, but Italian still. This is a great fault. In some instances it +would be unpardonable. In this instance, perhaps, it is more than +compensated by a kindred excellence. In a work like this, abounding in +the untranslatable phrases of popular dialogue, it gives a quaint +raciness which is not unacceptable. It does more. Such translations +_of such works_, would soon make the English ear familiar with Italian +idioms, which once naturalized, would enrich the language. It is +already thus incalculably enriched by the poetry of Burns and the +novels of Scott. A familiarity with Shakspeare, (which is not the +English of the present day,) preserves a store of wealth which would +else be lost. The strength of a language is in the number and variety +of its idiomatic phrases. These are forms of speech which use has +rendered familiar, and emancipated from the crippling restraint of +regular grammar. They enable the speaker to be brief, without being +obscure. His meaning, eliptically expressed, is distinctly and +precisely understood. Should any other work of Manzoni fall into the +hands of Mr. Featherstonhaugh, we hope he may have time to correct +those inaccuracies of which he is doubtless sensible; but we trust he +will not consider his popular Italian idioms as among his faults. +Smollett, in his translation of Don Quixotte, through extreme +fastidiousness, threw away an opportunity of doubling the force of the +English language. + +This work comes to us as the harbinger of glad tidings to the reading +world. Here is a book, equal in matter to any two of Cooper's novels, +and executed at least as well, which we receive at the moderate price +of forty-two cents! It forms one number of the Washington Library, +published monthly, at five dollars per annum. At this rate, a literary +gourmand, however greedy, may hope to satisfy his appetite for books, +without starving his children. The author has our praise, and the +translator and publisher have our thanks. + + * * * * * + +HORSE-SHOE ROBINSON; A Tale of the Tory Ascendency. By the Author of +'Swallow Barn.' Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Blanchard. + +We have not yet forgotten, nor is it likely we shall very soon forget, +the rich simplicity of diction--the manliness of tone--the admirable +traits of Virginian manners, and the striking pictures of still life, +to be found in Swallow Barn. The spirit of imitation was, however, +visible in that book, and, in a great measure, overclouded its rare +excellence. This is by no means the case with Mr. Kennedy's new novel. +If ever volumes were entitled to be called original--these are so +entitled. We have read them from beginning to end with the greatest +attention, and feel very little afraid of hazarding our critical +reputation, when we assert that they will place Mr. Kennedy at once in +the very first rank of American novelists. + +_Horse-Shoe Robinson_ (be not alarmed at the title, gentle reader!) is +a tale, or more properly a succession of stirring incidents relating +to the time of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina, during the +Revolution. It is well known that throughout the whole war this state +evinced more disaffection to the confederated government than any +other of the Union, with the exception perhaps of the neighboring +state of Georgia, where the residents on the Savannah river, being +nearly allied to the Carolinians in their habits and general +occupations, were actuated, more or less, by the same political +opinions. But we will here let the author speak for himself. + +"Such might be said to be the more popular sentiment of the state at +the time of its subjugation by Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis. +To this common feeling there were many brilliant exceptions, and the +more brilliant because they stood, as it were, apart from the +preponderating mass of public judgment.... There were heroes of this +mould in South Carolina, who entered with the best spirit of chivalry +into the national quarrel, and brought to it hearts as bold, minds as +vigorous, and arms as strong, as ever in any clime worked out a +nation's redemption. These men refused submission to their conquerors, +and endured exile, chains, and prison, rather than the yoke. Some few, +still undiscouraged by the portents of the times, retreated into +secret places, gathered their few patriot neighbors together, and +contrived to keep in awe the soldier government that now professed to +sway the land. They lived on the scant aliment furnished in the woods, +slept in the tangled brakes and secret places of the fen, exacted +contributions from the adherents of the crown, and, by rapid movements +of their woodland cavalry, and brave blows, accomplished more than +thrice their numbers would have done in ordinary warfare.... In such +encounters or _frays_, as they might rather be called, from the +smallness of the numbers concerned, and the hand to hand mode of +fighting which they exhibited, Marion, Sumpter, Horry, Pickens, and +many others had won a fame, that, in a nation of legendary or poetical +associations, would have been reduplicated through a thousand channels +of immortal verse. But alas! we have no ballads! and many men who as +well deserve to be remembered as Percy or Douglas, as Adam Bell or +Clym of the Clough, have sunk down without even a couplet epitaph upon +the rude stone, that, in some unfenced and unreverenced grave yard, +still marks the lap of earth whereon their heads were laid." + + * * * * * + +"One feature that belonged to this unhappy state of things in Carolina +was the division of families. Kindred were arrayed against each other +in deadly feuds, and not unfrequently brother took up arms against +brother, and sons against their sires. A prevailing spirit of +treachery and distrust marked the times. Strangers did not know how +far they might trust to the rites of hospitality, and many a man laid +his head upon his pillow, uncertain whether his fellow lodger might +not invade him in the secret watches of the night, and murder him in +his slumbers. All went armed, and many slept with pistols or daggers +under their pillows. There are tales told of men being summoned to +their doors or windows at midnight by the blaze of their farm yards, +to which the incendiary torch had been applied, and shot down, in the +light of the conflagration, by a concealed hand. Families were obliged +to betake themselves to the shelter of the thickets and swamps, when +their own homesteads were dangerous places. The enemy wore no colors, +and was not to be distinguished from friends either by outward guise +or speech. Nothing could be more revolting than to see the symbols of +peace thus misleading the confident into the toils of war--nor is it +possible to imagine a state of society characterized by a more +frightful insecurity." + +It will here be seen at a glance that the novelist has been peculiarly +fortunate in the choice of an epoch, a scene and a subject. We +sincerely think that he has done them all the fullest justice, and has +worked out, with these and with other materials, a book of no ordinary +character. We do not wish to attempt any analysis of the story +itself--or that connecting chain which unites into one proper whole +the varied events of the novel. We feel that in so doing, we should, +in some measure, mar the interest by anticipation; a grievous sin too +often indulged in by reviewers, and against which, should we ever be +so lucky as to write a book, we would protest with all our hearts. But +we may be allowed a word or two. The principal character in the novel, +upon whom the chief interest of the story turns, and who, in +accordance with the right usage of novel writing, should be considered +the hero, and should have given a title to the book, is Brevet Major +Arthur Butler of the continental army, to whose acquaintance we are +first introduced about two o'clock in the afternoon of a day towards +the end of July, 1780. But Mr. K. has ventured, at his own peril, to +set at defiance the common ideas of propriety in this important +matter, and, not having the fear of the critic before his eyes, has +thought it better to call his work by the name of a very singular +personage, whom all readers will agree in pronouncing worthy of the +honor thus conferred upon him. The writer has also made another +innovation. He has begun at the beginning. We all know this to be an +unusual method of procedure. It has been too, for some time past, the +custom, to delay as long as possible the main interest of a novel--no +doubt with the very laudable intention of making it the more intense +when it does at length arrive. Now for our own parts we can see little +difference in being amused with the beginning or with the end of a +book, but have a decided preference for those rare volumes which are +so lucky as to amuse us throughout. And such a book is the one before +us. We enter _at once_ into the spirit and meaning of the author--we +are introduced _at once_ to the prominent characters--and we go with +them _at once_, heart and hand, in the various and spirit-stirring +adventures which befall them. + +Horse-Shoe Robinson, who derives his nick-name of Horse-Shoe (his +proper _prænomen_ being Galbraith)--from the two-fold circumstance of +being a blacksmith, and of living in a little nook of land hemmed in +by a semi-circular bend of water, is fullly entitled to the character +of "an original." He is the life and soul of the drama--the bone and +sinew of the book--its very breath--its every thing which gives it +strength, substance, and vitality. Never was there a rarer fellow--a +more laughable blacksmith--a more gallant Sancho. He is a very prince +at an ambuscade, and a very devil at a fight. He is a better edition +of Robin Hood--quite as sagacious--not half so much of a coxcomb--and +infinitely more moral. In short, he is the man of all others we should +like to have riding by our side in any very hazardous expedition. + +We think Mr. K. has been particularly successful in the delineation of +his female characters; and this is saying a great deal at a time when, +from some unaccountable cause, almost every attempt of the kind has +turned out a failure. Mildred Lindsay, in her confiding love, in her +filial reverence, in her heroic espousal of the revolutionary cause, +not because she approved it, but because it was her lover's, is an +admirable and--need we say more?--a truly _feminine_ portrait. Then +the ardent, the eager, the simple-minded, the generous and the devoted +Mary Musgrove! Most sincerely did we envy John Ramsay, the treasure of +so pure and so exalted an affection! + +With the exception of now and then a careless, or inadvertent +expression, such for instance, as the word _venturesome_ instead of +_adventurous_, no fault whatever can be found with Mr. Kennedy's +style. It varies gracefully and readily with the nature of his +subject, never sinking, even in the low comedy of some parts of the +book, into the insipid or the vulgar; and often, very often rising +into the energetic and sublime. Its general character, as indeed the +general character of all that we have seen from the same pen, is a +certain unpretending simplicity, nervous, forcible, and altogether +devoid of affectation. This is a style of writing above all others to +be desired, and above all others difficult of attainment. Nor is it to +be supposed that by simplicity we imply a rejection of ornament, or of +a proper use of those advantages afforded by metaphorical +illustration. A style professing to disclaim such advantages would be +anything but simple--if indeed we might not be tempted to think it +very silly. We have called the style of Mr. K. a style simple and +forcible, and we have no hesitation in calling it, at the same time, +richly figurative and poetical. We have opened the pages at random for +an illustration of our meaning, and have no difficulty in finding one +precisely suited to our purpose. Let us turn to vol. i. page +112.--"The path of invasion is ever a difficult road when it leads +against a united people. You mistake both the disposition and the +means of these republicans. They have bold partizans in the field, and +eloquent leaders in their senates. The nature of the strife sorts well +with their quick and earnest tempers; and by this man's play of war we +breed up soldiers who delight in the game. Rebellion has long since +marched beyond the middle ground, and has no thought of retreat. What +was at first the mere overflow of popular passion has been hardened +into principle--_like a fiery stream of lava which first rolls in a +flood, and then turns into stone_." + +While we are upon the subject of style, we might as well say a word or +two in regard to _punctuation_. It seems to us that the volumes before +us are singularly deficient in this respect--and yet we noticed no +fault of this nature in Swallow Barn. How can we reconcile these +matters? Whom are we to blame in this particular, the author, or the +printer? It cannot be said that the point is one of no importance--it +is of very great importance. A slovenly punctuation will mar, in a +greater or less degree, the brightest paragraph ever penned; and we +are certain that those who have paid the most attention to this +matter, will not think us hypercritical in what we say. A too frequent +use of the _dash_ is the besetting sin of the volumes now before us. +It is lugged in upon all occasions, and invariably introduced where it +has no business whatever. Even the end of a sentence is not sacred +from its intrusion. Now there is no portion of a printer's fount, +which can, if properly disposed, give more of strength and energy to a +sentence than this same _dash_; and, for this very reason, there is +none which can more effectually, if improperly arranged, disturb and +distort the meaning of every thing with which it comes in contact. But +not to speak of such disturbance or distortion, a fine taste will +intuitively avoid, even in trifles, all that is unnecessary or +superfluous, and bring nothing into use without an object or an end. +We do not wish to dwell upon this thing, or to make it of more +consequence than necessary. We will merely adduce an example of the +punctuation to which we have alluded. Vide page 138, vol. i. "Will no +lapse of time wear away this abhorred image from your memory?--Are you +madly bent on bringing down misery on your head?--I do not speak of my +own suffering.--Will you forever nurse a hopeless attachment for a man +whom, it must be apparent to yourself, you can never meet +again?--Whom, if the perils of the field, the avenging bullet of some +loyal subject, do not bring him merited punishment,--the halter may +reward, or, in his most fortunate destiny, disgrace, poverty, and +shame pursue:--Are you forever to love that man?"-- + +Would not the above paragraph read equally as well thus: "Will no +lapse of time wear away this abhorred image from your memory? Are you +madly bent on bringing down misery on your head? I do not speak of my +own suffering. Will you forever nurse a hopeless attachment for a man +whom, it must be apparent to yourself, you can never meet again--whom, +if the perils of the field, the avenging bullet of some loyal subject, +do not bring him merited punishment, the halter may reward, or, in his +more fortunate destiny, disgrace, poverty and shame pursue? Are you +forever to love that man?" + +The second of Mr. K's volumes is, from a naturally increasing interest +taken in the fortunes of the leading characters, by far the most +exciting. But we can confidently recommend them both to the lovers of +the forcible, the adventurous, the stirring, and the picturesque. They +will not be disappointed. A high tone of morality, healthy and +masculine, breathes throughout the book, and a rigid--perhaps a too +scrupulously rigid poetical justice is dealt out to the great and +little villains of the story--the Tyrrells, the Wat Adairs, the +Currys, and the Habershams of the drama. In conclusion, we prophecy +that Horse-Shoe Robinson will be eagerly read by all classes of +people, and cannot fail to place Mr. Kennedy in a high rank among the +writers of this or of any other country. We regret that the late +period of receiving his book will not allow us to take that extended +notice of it which we could desire. + + * * * * * + +JOURNAL--By FRANCES ANNE BUTLER. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard. +[Presented to the Editor of the Messenger, by Mr. C. Hall.] + +Perhaps no book has, for many years, been looked for, long previous to +its publication, with such intense curiosity, as this record of Miss +Fanny Kemble's observations and opinions of men and women, manners and +customs, in the United States. We say Miss Fanny Kemble's +opinions--for while bearing that name, most of those opinions were +formed. Under that name she was hailed in this country, as the +inheritress of the genius of Mrs. Siddons, whose fame is connected in +the minds of Americans with all that is noble, and majestic, and +powerful in the dramatic art. Under that name she received the +admiration of thousands, was made a sharer of the hospitality of many +of the most distinguished citizens of the country--and received a +homage to which nothing but the highest genius, and the purest moral +worth could have entitled her. It is not therefore as Mrs. Frances +Anne Butler, the wife of an American citizen, that we look upon her in +her character of authoress--but as the favorite actress, applauded to +the echo, surfeited with flattery, and loaded with pecuniary +rewards.[1] It is impossible to consider this book in any other than a +personal point of view. Its very form forbids our separating the +author from the work--the opinions and sentiments, from the individual +who utters them. The idea of both exist in an indivisible +amalgamation. Nor we fear, will it be possible for nine-tenths of her +readers to weigh a single expression of Fanny Kemble the authoress, +unmingled with the idea of Fanny Kemble the actress, the star--the +"observed of all observers." Hence this Journal will have an effect +probably far beyond the anticipations of its writer. It will not only +be looked upon as the test of Mrs. Butler's ability as an author; but +it will, whether justly or not, convey to the thousands who have +already perused, and the tens of thousands who will hereafter peruse +it, a picture of her character and dispositions. The picture may, and +doubtless will be an exaggerated one--few _pictures_ are otherwise; +but still it will be received as true, because the outlines have been +traced by the original herself. We are sorry to say that the +"counterfeit resemblance" of the fair authoress, presented by her +book, displays many harsh and ill-favored lineaments, and the traces +of passions which we could wish did not disfigure its many noble and +magnanimous features. Mrs. Butler cannot claim for herself the +immunity which she awards with great justice to poetical writers, of a +distinction between their _real_ and their _written_ sentiments.[2] If +this book contains as we suppose, the faithful transcripts of her +daily observations and opinions, revised long after they were penned, +and thus exhibiting her true, unexaggerated impressions, by them must +she be judged--and in passing judgment upon her work, a candid critic +will find much, very much, to admire and approve, and much also to +censure and condemn. + +[Footnote 1: We are far from wishing to convey the idea that a popular +actor of real merit is in any way placed under obligation, (especially +such an obligation as would render it improper or ungrateful for him +to speak with freedom of the communities of which his audiences formed +parts,) by the pecuniary benefits received from the public for the +exhibition of his talents. Mrs. Butler has, we think, settled that +question in her book; and it will be better for both the audiences and +the actors, whenever differences arise between them, to consider each +other on the footing of equality, which she points out as the +equitable and common-sense relation of the two parties. Nothing can be +more rational than the following: + +"It may not be amiss here to say one word with regard to the +_gratitude_ which audiences in some parts of the world claim from +actors, and about which I have lately heard a most alarming out-cry. +Do actors generally exercise their profession to please themselves and +gratify their own especial delight in self-exhibition? Is that +profession in its highest walks one of small physical exertion and +fatigue, (I say nothing of mental exertion) and in its lower paths is +it one of much gain, glory, or ease? Do audiences, on the other hand, +use to come in crowds to play-houses to see indifferent performers? +and when there do they out of pure charity and good-will, bestow their +applause as well as their money upon tiresome performers?--I will +answer these points as far as regards myself, and therein express the +gratitude which I feel towards the frequenters of theatres. I +individually disliked my profession, and had neither pride nor +pleasure in the exercise of it. I exercised it as a matter of +necessity, to earn my bread,--and verily it was in the sweat of my +brow. The parts which fell to my lot were of a most laborious nature, +and occasioned sometimes violent mental excitement, always immense +physical exertion, and sometimes both. In those humbler walks of my +profession, from whose wearisomeness I was exempted by my sudden favor +with the public, I have seen, though not known, the most painful +drudgery,--the most constant fatigue,--the most sad contrast between +real cares and feigned merriments,--the most anxious penurious and +laborious existence imaginable. For the part of my question which +regarded the audiences, I have only to say, that I never knew, saw, +heard or read of any set of people who went to a play-house to see +what they did not like; this being the case it never occurred to me +that our houses were full but as a necessary consequence of our own +attraction, or that we were applauded, but as the result of our own +exertions. I was glad the houses were full, because I was earning my +livelihood, and wanted the money; and I was glad the people applauded +us, because it is pleasant to please, and human vanity will find some +sweetness in praise, even when reason weighs its worth most justly." +Vol. ii. pp. 109-110.] + +[Footnote 2: "Moore talks about Byron's writing with the same pen full +of ink, 'Adieu, adieu, my native land,' and 'Hurra, Hodgson, we are +going.' It proves nothing, except what I firmly believe, that we must +not look for the real feelings of writers to their works--or rather +that what they give us, and what we take for heart feeling, is head +weaving--a species of emotion engendered somewhere betwixt the bosom +and the brain, and bearing the same proportion of resemblance to +reality that a picture does--that is--like feeling, but not +feeling--like sadness, but not sadness--like what it appears, but not +indeed that very thing: and the greater a man's power of thus +producing _sham realities_, the greater his qualification for being a +poet." _Journal_, vol. i., pp. 21-22.] + +We have read Mrs. Butler's work with untiring interest--indeed the +vivacity of its style, the frequent occurrence of beautiful +descriptions, of just and forcible observations, and many sound views +of the condition of society in this country--the numerous +characteristic anecdotes, and some most discriminating criticisms of +actors and acting, must stamp her work as one of no ordinary merit. +And these attractions in a great measure neutralize, although they +cannot redeem, her innumerable faults of language, her sturdy +prejudices, her hasty opinions, and her ungenerous sarcasms--These +abound in the Journal, and yet it is more than probable that her +censorious spirit has to a great extent been suppressed, as almost +every page is studded with asterisks, indicating, we may presume, that +her sins of hasty censure have been greatly diminished to the public +eye, by the saving grace of omission. + +The defects of the work are not confined to the exhibition of +prejudices and the expression of unjust opinions: the style and +language is often coarse, we might say vulgar; and her more +impassioned exclamations are often characterized by a vehemence which +is very like _profanity_, an offence that would not be tolerated in a +writer of the other sex. We cite a few, from among the many passages +which we have noted, as specimens of undignified, unfeminine and +unscholarlike phraseology: The word "_dawdled_" seems a great favorite +with Mrs. Butler--as, for instance: "Rose at eight, _dawdled_ about," +&c. vol. i. p. 18. "Rose at half past eight, _dawdled_ about as +usual," p. 21. "Came up and _dawdled_ upon deck," p. 47. "Came home, +_daudled_ about my room," p. 97.--And in numberless other instances +this word is used, apparently, to signify loitering or dallying, +spelled indiscriminately da_w_dled, or da_u_dled. Indeed so much does +our fair authoress seem to have been addicted to the habit which the +word implies--be it what it may--that in the second volume she speaks +of having "dressed for once without _dawdling_," as an uncommon +occurrence. She is also fond of the word "gulp," and uses it in +strange combinations, as--"My dear father, who was a little elated, +made me sing to him, which I greatly _gulped_ at," p. 61. "I _gulped_, +sat down, and was measured," (for a pair of shoes,) p. 103--"on the +edge of a precipice, several hundred feet down into the valley: it +made me _gulp_ to look at it," &c. + +At page 97, she tells us, that "when the gentlemen joined us they were +all more or less 'how come'd you so indeed?'" and shortly after, "they +all went away in good time, and we came to bed: + + ------------------------------------To bed--to sleep-- + To sleep!--perchance to be bitten! aye--there's the scratch: + And in that sleep of our's what bugs may come, + Must give us pause." + +She thus describes the motions of persons on ship-board, in rough +weather: "Rushing hither and thither in all directions but the one +they purpose going, and making as many angles, fetches, and ridiculous +deviations from the point they aim at, as if the _devil had tied a +string to their legs_, and jerked it every now and then in spite." p. +18. + +At page 99: "Supped, lay down on the floor in absolute _meltiness +away_, and then came to bed." "When I went on, I was all but tumbling +down at the sight of my Jaffier, who looked like the apothecary in +Romeo and Juliet, with the addition of some _devilish_ red slashes +along his thighs and arms," p. 107. "Away _walloped_ the four horses," +&c. p. 131. "How they did _wallop_ and shamble about," &c. p. 149. +"Now I'll go to bed; my cough's enough to kill a _horse_," p. 153. +"Heaven bless the world, for a _conglomerated amalgamation_ of fools," +p. 190. "He talked an amazing quantity of _thickish_ philosophy, and +moral and sentimental _potter_." In truth, "_potter_" and +"_pottering_," seem to be favorites equally with _daudling_, and she +as frequently makes use of them. For instance, "He sat down, and +_pottered_ a little," p. 58. They "took snuff, eat cakes, and +_pottered_ a deal," p. 182. "After dinner _pottered_ about clothes," +&c. p. 220. "Sat stitching and _pottering_ an infinity," p. 230--and +many other varieties of the same word. But of the infinite number of +literary novelties of this sort, it would be impossible, within the +limits we have prescribed to ourselves, to give more than a few +specimens. We will take two or three more at random: "My feet got so +perished with the cold, that I didn't know what to do," p. 230. "He +was most exceedingly odd and _dauldrumish_. I think he was a little +'_how come'd you so indeed_.'" p. 195; "yesterday began like May, with +flowers and sun-shine, it ended like December, with the _sulks_, and a +fit of crying. The former were furnished me by my friends and Heaven, +the latter by myself and the _d----l_." p. 198. "At six o'clock, D---- +roused me; and _grumpily_ enough I arose." _1b._ "At one o'clock, came +home, having danced myself fairly off my legs." p. 227. + +Such blemishes as these, apparently uniting the slang of the boarding +school and the green room, deform the work of Mrs. Butler, and are +much to be lamented, became they may have the effect of blinding the +hasty, prejudiced or fastidious reader, to the many beauties which are +to be found in its pages. Indeed the work has already encountered the +severest criticisms from the newspaper press, imbittered by the many +censorious remarks of Mrs. B. upon the manners and institutions of the +country; her severe, and in many instances just strictures upon the +state of society in the cities in which she sojourned; and the +supercilious sneers which she has uttered against the editorial +fraternity, "the press gang," as she uncourteously denominates that +numerous and powerful body. The censures of her book, are doubtless, +in the main, well deserved; but in their excess, the merits which the +"Journal" unquestionably possesses in great abundance and of a high +order, have in many cases been passed by unheeded by her indignant +critics. And here we cannot refrain from the utterance of a remark +which has frequently occurred to us, and which is brought forcibly to +mind by the reception which Mrs. Butler's criticisms upon America have +met with: we think that too much sensitiveness is felt by our +countrymen, at the unfavorable opinions expressed by foreigners, in +regard to our social, political, and moral condition--and that the +press, as the organ of public sentiment, is prone to work itself into +a superfluous frenzy of indignation, at what are generally considered +"foreign libels" upon us. To be indignant at gross misrepresentations +of our country, is an exhibition of patriotism in one of its most +laudable forms. But the sentiment may be carried too far, and may +blind us to evils and deficiencies in our condition, when pointed out +by a foreigner, which it would be well for us rather to consider with +a view to their amendment. It may so far blunt our sense of the +justice of the maxim "_fas est, ab hoste doceri_," as to induce us to +entertain jealousy and aversion for the most judicious suggestions, if +offered by others than our own countrymen. Entertaining these views, +we have read Mrs. Butler's work, with a disposition to judge of it +impartially; and while we have perceived many instances of captious +complaints in regard to matters of trifling importance in themselves; +and frequently a disposition to build up general censures upon +partial, individual causes of disgust, displeasure or +disappointment--we feel bound to say, that, taking the work as a +whole, we do not think a deliberate disposition to misrepresent, or a +desire to depreciate us, can be discovered in it. The strictures upon +our modes of living, our social relations, &c. are often unworthy the +writer. She complains for instance, that "the things (at the hotel in +New York,) were put on the table in a slovenly, outlandish fashion; +fish, soup, and meat, at once, and puddings, and tarts, and cheese, at +another once; no finger glasses, and a patched table cloth--in short, +a want of that style and neatness which is found in every hotel in +England. The waiters too, remind us of the half-savage highland lads, +that used to torment us under that denomination in Glasgow--only that +they were wild Irish instead of Scotch." vol. i. p. 49. + +Frequently too, she complains of the audiences before whom she +performed, with occasional reproof of their ungracious conduct in not +sufficiently applauding her father or herself: She says, of the first +appearance of the former at the Park Theatre: + +"When he came on they gave him what every body here calls an immense +reception; but they should see our London audience get up, and wave +hats and handkerchiefs, and shout welcome as they used to do to us. +The tears were in my eyes, and all I could say was, 'they might as +well get up, I think.'" Vol. i. p. 93.--And on another occasion: "The +people were stupid to a degree to be sure; poor things, it was very +hot. Indeed I scarcely understood how they should be amused with the +School for Scandal; for though the dramatic situations are so +exquisite, yet the wit is far above the generality of even our own +audiences, and the tone and manners altogether are so thoroughly +English, that I should think it must be for the most part +incomprehensible to the good people here,"--p. 110. + +At the Philadelphia audiences, she grumbles as follows: + +"The audiences here, are without exception, the most disagreeable I +ever played to. Not a single hand did they give the balcony scene, or +my father's scene with the friar; they are literally immoveable. They +applauded vehemently at the end of my draught scene, and a great deal +at the end of the play; but they are nevertheless intolerably dull, +and it is all but impossible to act to them,"--p. 157. + +Of the ladies of this country, she seems to have formed a low estimate +in many respects, and to look upon them generally with no little +contempt. Of those in New York, she says: "The women dress very much, +and very much like French women gone mad; they all of them seem to me +to walk horribly ill, as if they wore tight shoes."--And again: "The +women here, like those in most warm climates, ripen very early, and +decay proportionably soon. They are, generally speaking, pretty, with +good complexions, and an air of freshness and brilliancy, but this I +am told is very evanescent; and whereas, in England, a woman is in the +full bloom of health and beauty, from twenty to five and thirty; here, +they scarce reach the first period without being faded, and looking +old. They marry very young, and this is another reason why age comes +prematurely upon them. There was a fair young thing at dinner to-day, +who did not look above seventeen, and she was a wife. As for their +figures, like those of the French women, they are too well dressed for +one to judge exactly what they are really like: they are, for the most +part, short and slight, with remarkably pretty feet and ancles; but +there's too much pelerine and petticoat, and 'de quoi' of every sort +to guess any thing more,"--p. 88. + +This is a delicate subject, and one on which we should be averse to +enter the lists with Mrs. Butler, prejudiced as she most probably is. +But some of her observations on the mode of nurturing females, strike +us as exhibiting good sense: In the following note to the above, we +apprehend there is much truth: + +"The climate of this country is made the scape-goat upon which all the +ill looks, and ill health of the ladies is laid; but while they are +brought up as effeminately as they are, take as little exercise, live +in rooms heated like ovens during the winter, and marry as early as +they do; it will appear evident, that many causes combine with an +extremely variable climate, to sallow their complexions, and destroy +their constitutions." + +We are sorry to be forced to say, that there is also much sound sense +and unwelcome truth in her remarks upon the situation of married +females in our fashionable circles generally, (although the picture is +overwrought and is more peculiarly applicable to northern females,) +which we quote from Vol i. p. 160. + +"The dignified and graceful influence which married women among us +exercise over the tone of manners, uniting the duties of home to the +charms of social life; and bearing, at once, like the orange tree the +fair fruits of maturity with the blossoms of their spring, is utterly +unknown here. Married women are either house-drudges and +nursery-maids, or, if they appear in society, comparative cyphers; and +the retiring, modest youthful bearing, which among us distinguishes +girls of fifteen or sixteen is equally unknown. Society is entirely +led by chits, who in England would be sitting behind a pinafore; the +consequence is, that it has neither the elegance, refinement, nor the +propriety which belong to ours; but is a noisy, racketty, vulgar +congregation of flirting boys and girls, alike without style and +decorum." + +This view of manners is drawn from the society of the cities of New +York and Philadelphia;--appended to the above extract, is a note, +entering more into the details of her impressions regarding their +fashionable circles, which we give entire: + +"When we arrived in America, we brought letters of introduction to +several persons in New York; many were civil enough to call upon us, +we were invited out to sundry parties, and were introduced into what +is there called the first society. I do not wish to enter into any +description of it, but will only say, that I was most disagreeably +astonished; and had it been my fate to have passed through the country +as rapidly as most travellers do, I should have carried away a very +unfavorable impression of the _best_ society of New York. Fortunately, +however, for me, my visits were repeated and my stay prolonged: and in +the course of time I became acquainted with many individuals whose +manners and acquirements were of a high order, and from whose +intercourse I derived the greatest gratification. But they generally +did me the favor to visit me, and I still could not imagine how it +happened that I never met them at the parties to which I was invited, +and in the circles where I visited. I soon discovered that they formed +a society among themselves, where all those qualities which I had +looked for among the self-styled _best_, were to be found. When I name +Miss Sedgewick, Halleck, Irving, Bryant, Paulding and some of less +fame, but whose acquirements rendered their companionship delightful +indeed, amongst whom I felt proud and happy to find several of my own +name; it will no longer appear singular that they should feel too well +satisfied with the resources of their own society, either to mingle in +that of the vulgar _fashionables_, or seek with avidity the +acquaintance of every stranger that arrives in New York. It is not to +be wondered at, that foreigners have spoken as they have, of what is +termed fashionable society here, or have condemned, with unqualified +censure, the manners and tone prevailing in it; their condemnations +are true and just as regards what they see: nor perhaps, would they be +much inclined to moderate them, when they found that persons +possessing every quality that can render intercourse between rational +creatures desirable, were held in light esteem, and neglected, as +either bores, blues, or dowdies, by those so infinitely their +inferiors in every worthy accomplishment. The same separation, or if +anything a still stronger one, subsists in Philadelphia, between the +self-styled fashionables, and the real good society. The distinction +there, is really of a nature perfectly ludicrous; a friend of mine was +describing to me a family whose manners were unexceptionable, and +whose mental accomplishments were of a high order; upon my expressing +some surprise that I had never met with them, my informant replied, +'Oh, no, they are not received by the Chestnut street _set_.' If I +were called upon to define that society in New York and Philadelphia, +which ranks (by right of self-arrogation,) as first and best; I should +say it is a purely dancing society, where a fiddle is indispensable to +keep its members awake; and where their brains and tongues seem, by +common consent, to feel that they had much better give up the care of +mutual entertainment to the feet of the parties assembled, and they +judge well. Now, I beg leave clearly to be understood, there is +another, and a far more desirable circle; but it is not the one into +which strangers find their way generally. To an Englishman, this +_fashionable_ society presents, indeed, a pitiful sample of lofty +pretensions without adequate foundation. Here is a constant endeavor +to imitate those states of European society, which have for their +basis the feudal spirit of the early ages; and which are rendered +venerable by their rank, powerful by their wealth, and refined, and in +some degree respectable, by great and general mental cultivation. Of +Boston I have not spoken. The society there, is of an infinitely +superior order. A very general degree of information, and a much +greater simplicity of manners render it infinitely more +agreeable,"--pp. 161-2. + +As few matters, worldly or spiritual, escaped the observation of our +authoress, it is not wonderful that her pen was occasionally dipped in +the political cauldron. But as her ideas are in most instances tinged +with her own national prejudices, we shall not dwell upon them longer +than to say that she sees already a decided aristocratic tendency +among us, and to quote the following summary of her opinion as to the +permanence of our institutions and government:--"I believe in my heart +that a republic is the noblest, highest, and purest form of +government; but I believe that according to the present disposition of +human creatures, 'tis a mere beau ideal, totally incapable of +realization. What the world may be fit for six hundred years hence, I +cannot exactly perceive--but in the mean time, 'tis my conviction that +America will be a monarchy before I am a skeleton." p. 56. If argument +with a lady on such a subject could be reconciled to the precepts of +gallantry, it would certainly be unprofitable where the causes of her +belief are so vaguely stated. And we think she has furnished the best +argument against herself in her frequent comparisons of the condition +of the mass of the people of this country to that of the laboring +class in England, in which she constantly decides in favor of America. +It will scarcely be argued that a people enjoying such blessings as +she ascribes to the condition of the mass of American citizens, could +easily be induced to change their government, and yield up a certain +good for a doubtful improvement--far less that they would willingly +submit to a form of government which they look upon as particularly +odious. The following passage shows what are her views of the +condition of the laboring classes among us: + +"I never was so forcibly struck with the prosperity and happiness of +the lower orders of society in this country, as yesterday returning +from Hoboken. The walks along the river and through the woods, the +steamers crossing from the city, were absolutely thronged with a +cheerful, well-dressed population abroad, merely for the purpose of +pleasure and exercise. Journeymen, laborers, handicraftsmen, +tradespeople, with their families, bearing all in their dress and +looks evident signs of well-being and contentment, were all flocking +from their confined avocations, into the pure air, the bright +sunshine, and beautiful shade of this lovely place. I do not know any +spectacle which could give a foreigner, especially an Englishman, a +better illustration of that peculiar excellence of the American +government--the freedom and happiness of the lower classes. Neither is +it to be said that this was a holiday, or an occasion of peculiar +festivity--it was a common week-day--such as our miserable +manufacturing population spends from sun-rise to sun-down, in +confined, incessant, unhealthy toil--to earn, at its conclusion, the +inadequate reward of health and happiness so wasted--the contrast +struck me forcibly--it rejoiced my heart; it surely was an object of +contemplation, that any one who had a heart must have rejoiced in." + +We had intended to make several additional extracts from what we think +the better portions of the Journal, such as would exhibit the +authoress in her most favorable light. But we have "_daudled_" so long +on the way, that those extracts must be brief, and will probably fail +to do the justice we proposed to the fair writer. As however, we have +not selected the _worst_ of the passages from those which we deemed it +our duty to censure, we may be forgiven, if we should fail to quote +the _best_ of those which exhibit her good sense and ability as a +writer. + +Of the fate of the aborigines of this country, she says: + +"The chasing, enslaving, and destroying creatures, whose existence, +however inferior, is as justly theirs, as that of the most refined +European is his; who for the most part, too, receive their enemies +with open-handed hospitality, until taught treachery by being +betrayed, and cruelty by fear; the driving the child of the soil off +it, or, what is fifty times worse, chaining him to till it; all the +various forms of desolation which have ever followed the landing of +civilized men upon uncivilized shores; in short, the theory and +practice of discovery and conquest, as recorded in all history, is a +very singular and painful subject of contemplation. + +"'Tis true, that cultivation and civilization, the arts and sciences +that render life useful, the knowledge that ennobles, the adornments +that refine existence, above all, the religion that is its most sacred +trust and dear reward, all these, like pure sunshine and healthful +airs following a hurricane, succeed the devastation of the invader; +but the sufferings of those who are swept away are not the less, and +though I believe that good alone is God's result, it seems a fearful +proof of the evil wherewith this earth is cursed, that good cannot +progress but over such a path. No one, beholding the prosperous and +promising state of this fine country, could wish it again untenanted +of its enterprising and industrious possessors; yet even while looking +with admiration at all they have achieved, with expectation amounting +to certainty to all that they will yet accomplish; 'tis difficult to +refrain from bestowing some thoughts of pity and of sadness upon +those, whose homes have been overturned, whose language has past away, +and whose feet are daily driven further from those territories of +which they were once sole and sovereign lords. How strange it is to +think, that less than one hundred years ago, these shores, resounding +with the voice of populous cities--these waters, laden with the +commerce of the wide world, were silent wildernesses, where sprang and +fell the forest leaves, where ebbed and flowed the ocean tides from +day to day, and from year to year in uninterrupted stillness; where +the great sun, who looked on the vast empires of the east, its +mouldering kingdoms, its lordly palaces, its ancient temples, its +swarming cities, came and looked down upon the still dwelling of utter +loneliness, where nature sat enthroned in everlasting beauty, +undisturbed by the far off din of worlds 'beyond the flood.'" + +There is eloquence and good feeling in the following: + +"In beholding this fine young giant of a world, with all its +magnificent capabilities for greatness, I think every Englishman must +feel unmingled regret at the unjust and unwise course of policy which +alienated such a child from the parent government. But, at the same +time, it is impossible to avoid seeing that some other course must, +ere long, have led to the same result, even if England had pursued a +more maternal course of conduct towards America. No one, beholding +this enormous country, stretching from ocean to ocean, watered with +ten thousand glorious rivers, combining every variety of climate and +soil; therefore, every variety of produce and population; possessing +within itself every resource that other nations are forced either to +buy abroad, or to create substitutes for at home; no one, seeing the +internal wealth of America, the abundant fertility of the earth's +surface, the riches heaped below it, the unparalleled facilities for +the intercourse of men, and the interchange of their possessions +throughout its vast extent, can for an instant indulge the thought +that such a country was ever destined to be an appendage to any other +in the world, or that any chain of circumstances whatever, could have +long maintained in dependance a people furnished with every means of +freedom and greatness. But far from regretting that America has thrown +off her allegiance, and regarding her as a rebellious subject, and +irreverent child; England will surely, ere long, learn to look upon +this country as the inheritor of her glory; the younger England, +destined to perpetuate the language, the memory, the virtues of the +noble land from which she is descended. Loving and honoring my +country, as I do, I cannot look upon America with any feeling of +hostility. I do not only hear the voice of England in the language of +this people, but I recognize in all their best qualities, their +industry, their honesty, their sturdy independence of spirit, the very +witnesses of their origin, they are English; no other people in the +world would have licked us as they did; nor any other people in the +world, built upon the ground they won, so sound, and strong, and fair +an edifice. + +"With regard to what I have said in the beginning of this note, of the +many reasons which combined to render this country independent of all +others; I think they in some measure tell against the probability of +its long remaining at unity with itself. Such numerous and clashing +interests; such strong and opposite individuality of character between +the northern and southern states; above all, such enormous extent of +country; seem rationally to present many points of insecurity; many +probabilities of separations and breakings asunder; but all this lies +far on, and I leave it to those who have good eyes for a distance." +Vol. i. pp. 187-8. + +From her description of a voyage up the Hudson river, which is one of +the most beautiful portions of the work, we can give but two brief +passages: + +"We passed the light-house of Stoney Point, now the peaceful occupant +of the territory, where the blood in English veins was poured out by +English hands, during the struggle between old established tyranny and +the infant liberties of this giant world. Over all and each, the +blessed sky bent its blue arch, resplendently clear and bright, while +far away the distant summits of the highlands rose one above another, +shutting in the world, and almost appearing as though each bend of the +river must find us locked in their shadowy circle, without means of +onward progress." Vol. i. p. 207. + + * * * * * + +"Where are the poets of this land? Why such a world should bring forth +men with minds and souls larger and stronger than any that ever dwelt +in mortal flesh. Where are the poets of this land? They should be +giants, too; Homers and Miltons, and Goethes and Dantes, and +Shakspeares. Have these glorious scenes poured no inspirings into +hearts worthy to behold and praise their beauty? Is there none to come +here and worship among these hills and waters, till his heart burns +within him, and the hymn of inspiration flows from his lips, and rises +to the sky? Is there not one among the sons of such a soil to send +forth its praises to the universe, to throw new glory round the +mountains, new beauty over the waves? is inanimate nature, alone, here +'telling the glories of God?' Oh, surely, surely, there will come a +time when this lovely land will be vocal with the sound of song, when +every close-locked valley, and waving wood, rifted rock and flowing +stream shall have their praise. Yet 'tis strange how marvellously +unpoetical these people are! How swallowed up in life and its daily +realities, wants, and cares; how full of toil and thrift, and +money-getting labor. Even the heathen Dutch, among us the very +antipodes of all poetry, have found names such as the Donder Berg for +the hills, whilst the Americans christen them Butter Hill, the Crow's +Nest, and _such like_. Perhaps some hundred years hence, when wealth +has been amassed by individuals, and the face of society begins to +grow chequered, as in the old lands of Europe, when the whole mass of +population shall no longer go running along the level road of toil and +profit, when inequalities of rank shall exist, and the rich man shall +be able to pay for the luxury of poetry, and the poor man who makes +verses, no longer be asked, 'Why don't you cast up accounts?' when all +this comes to pass, as _perhaps_ some day it may, America will have +poets. It seems strange to me that men such as the early settlers in +Massachusetts, the Puritan founders of New England, the 'Pilgrim +Fathers,' should not have had amongst them some men, or at least man, +in whose mind the stern and enduring courage, the fervent, +enthusiastic piety, the unbending love of liberty, which animated them +all, become the inspiration to poetic thought, and the suggestion of +poetical utterance. They should have had a Milton or a Klopstock +amongst them. Yet after all, they had excitement of another sort, and +moreover, the difficulties, and dangers, and distresses of a fate of +unparalleled hardship, to engross all the energies of their minds; and +I am half inclined to believe that poetry is but a hothouse growth." +Vol. i. pp. 212-13. + +Our friends, _Oliver Oldschool_ and _Anthony Absolute_, will be +pleased to observe that Mrs. Butler abjures the _Waltz_, and agrees +with them in objecting to its tendency: + +"Dr. ---- called, and gave me a sermon about waltzing. As it was +perfectly good sense, to which I could reply nothing whatever, in the +shape of objection, I promised him never to waltz again, except with a +woman, or my brother.... After all, 'tis not fitting that a man should +put his arm round one's waist, whether one belongs to any one but +one's self or not. 'Tis much against what I have always thought most +sacred,--the dignity of a woman in her own eyes, and those of others. +I like Dr. ---- most exceedingly. He spoke every way to my feelings of +what was right to-day. After saying that he felt convinced from +conversations which he had heard amongst men, that waltzing was +immoral in its tendency, he added, 'I am married, and have been in +love, and cannot imagine any thing more destructive of the deep and +devoted respect which love is calculated to excite in every honorable +man's heart, not only for the individual object of his affection, but +for her whole sex, than to see any and every impertinent coxcomb in a +ball room, come up to her, and, without remorse or hesitation, clasp +her waist, imprison her hand, and absolutely whirl her round in his +arms.' So spake the Doctor; and my sense of propriety, and conviction +of right, bore testimony to the truth of his saying. So, farewell, +sweet German Waltz! next to hock, the most intoxicating growth of the +Rheinland. I shall never keep time to your pleasant measure again!--no +matter; after all, anything is better than to be lightly spoken of, +and to deserve such mention." Vol. i. pp. 227-28. + +Mrs. Butler seems to have no great love of the dramatic _art_--that +is, the art of stage performance. Several pages in the second volume +are devoted to this subject, (pp. 59, 60 and 61) in which she argues +with great force in support of the position, that acting is "the very +lowest of the arts." Like all her criticisms of subjects connected +with the stage, it is an admirable passage; but it is too long for +quotation. A shorter one conveys the same idea, in eloquent language: + +"I acted like a wretch, of course; how could I do otherwise? Oh, +Juliet! vision of the south! rose of the garden of the earth! was this +the glorious hymn that Shakspeare hallowed to your praise? was this +the mingled strain of Love's sweet going forth, and Death's dark +victory, over which my heart and soul have been poured out in wonder +and ecstacy?--How I do loathe the stage! these wretched, tawdry, +glittering rags, flung over the breathing forms of ideal loveliness; +these miserable, poor, and pitiful substitutes for the glories with +which poetry has invested her magnificent and fair creations--the +glories with which our imagination reflects them back again. What a +mass of wretched mumming mimickry acting is. Pasteboard and paint, for +the thick breathing orange groves of the south; green silk and oiled +parchment, for the solemn splendor of her noon of night; wooden +platforms and canvass curtains, for the solid marble balconies, and +rich dark draperies of Juliet's sleeping chamber, that shrine of love +and beauty; rouge, for the startled life-blood in the cheek of that +young passionate woman; an actress, a mimicker, a sham creature, me, +in fact, or any other one, for that loveliest and most wonderful +conception, in which all that is true in nature, and all that is +exquisite in fancy, are moulded into a living form. To _act_ this! to +_act_ Romeo and Juliet!--horror! horror! how I do loathe my most +impotent and unpoetical craft!" Vol. ii. pp. 16-17. + +In another and sadder strain, there are many beautiful portions, from +which we can only select the following--and with this our extracts +must end: + +"'Tis strange, that Messenger Bird threw more than a passing gloom +over me. If the dead do indeed behold those whom they have loved, with +loving eyes and fond remembrance, do not the sorrows, the weariness, +the toiling, the despairing of those dear ones rise even into the +abodes of peace, and wring the souls of those who thence look down +upon the earth, and see the wo and anguish suffered here? Or, if they +do not feel,--if, freed from this mortal coil, they forget all they +have suffered, all that we yet endure, oh! then what four-fold trash +is human love! what vain and miserable straws are all the deep, the +dear, the grasping affections twined in our hearts' fibres,--mingled +with our blood!--how poor are all things--how beggarly is life. Oh, to +think that while we yet are bowed in agony and mourning over the +dead,--while our bereaved hearts are aching, and our straining eyes +looking to that heaven, beyond which we think they yet may hear our +cries, they yet may see our anguish, the dead, the loved, the mourned, +nor see, nor hear; or if they do, look down with cold and careless +gaze upon the love that lifts our very souls in desperate yearning +towards them." Vol. ii. pp. 54-55. + +We have thus endeavored to give our readers an idea of this very +remarkable book--a task of no little difficulty from its variable +features, its mixture of sense and silliness, of prejudice and +liberality--almost every page bearing a distinct and peculiar +character. There are many things which have elicited censure, on which +we have not laid any stress, and among these are the frequent +exhibitions of attachment to her native country, and preference of its +people, its customs, its laws, &c. to those of America. We cannot find +fault with her for so noble and so natural a sentiment, even though it +should lead her to depreciate and underrate us. Besides, she +acknowledges the blindness of her partiality to England, and speaks of +it with great candor, as a national characteristic: + +"How we English folks do cling to our own habits, our own views, our +own things, our own people; how in spite of all our wanderings and +scatterings over the whole face of the earth, like so many Jews, we +never lose our distinct and national individuality; nor fail to lay +hold of one another's skirts, to laugh at and depreciate all that +differs from that country, which we delight in forsaking for any and +all others." Vol. i. p. 90. + +The chief fault of the work will be found in the dictatorial manner of +the writer. A female, and a young one too, cannot speak with the +self-confidence which marks this book, without jarring somewhat upon +American notions of the retiring delicacy of the female character. But +the early induction of Mrs. B. upon the stage, has evidently given her +a precocious self-dependence and a habit of forming her own opinions. +There is perhaps no situation in which human vanity is so powerfully +excited, as that of the favorite actor. The directness of the applause +which greets his successful efforts is most intoxicating, and mingles +so much admiration of the performer with delight at the performance, +that he or she, whose vanity should resist its fascinations, must be a +stoic indeed.[3] The effects of this personal homage, added to the +advantages of her birth, and her really masculine intellect, are +apparent in Mrs. B's Journal. But she also displays some fine feminine +traits, which the flatteries of delighted audiences, the admiration of +ambitious fashionables, and the consciousness of being the chief Lion +of the day, could not destroy. Her sympathy for a sick lady, lodging +in the same house in Philadelphia, is frequently and delicately +expressed; and various other incidents shew that kindness and +generosity are among her prominent qualities. Many pages are devoted +to the subject of religion, and as appears from them, she was +attentive to the performance of her devotions: Yet we cannot but think +her religion as displayed in this book, more a sentiment than a +principle; rather the imbodying of a poetical fancy, than that +pervading feeling of the heart which enters into and characterizes the +actions of those who feel its influence.--In conclusion, we will +repeat what we have said before, that there is much to admire and much +to condemn in this work--enough of the former to render it one of the +most attractive (as it is one of the most original) that has recently +issued from the press; and in censuring its faults it will be but +justice to bear in mind a sentiment of Mrs. B.; "After all, if people +generally did but know the difficulty of doing well, they would be +less damnatory upon those who do ill." p. 114, vol. i. + +[Footnote 3: This position has been beautifully illustrated by some +modern English writer, but by whom we have forgotten. Mrs. Butler is +fully aware of the intoxicating nature of the applause bestowed on +actors, and speaks most sensibly on the subject, although she is +probably unconscious of its full effects upon her own feelings, and +manner of thinking and writing. + +"Excitement," says she, "is reciprocal between the performer and the +audience; he creates it in them, and receives it back again from them: +and in that last scene in Fazio, half the effect that I produce is +derived from the applause which I receive, the very noise and tumult +of which tends to heighten the nervous energy which the scene itself +begets." + +The idea is farther carried out in the following striking passage: + +"The evanescent nature of his triumph, however an actor may deplore +it, is in fact but an instance of the broad moral justice by which all +things are so evenly balanced. If he can hope for no fame beyond mere +mention, when once his own generation passes away, at least his power, +and his glory, and his reign is in his own person, and during his own +life. There is scarcely to be conceived a popularity for the moment +more intoxicating than that of a great actor in his day, so much of it +becomes mixed up with the individual himself. The poet, the painter, +and the sculptor, enchant us through their works; and with very, very +few exceptions, their works, and not their very persons are the +objects of admiration and applause; it is to their minds we are +beholden; and though a certain degree of curiosity and popularity +necessarily wait even upon their bodily presence, it is faint compared +with that which is bestowed upon the actor; and for good reasons--he +is himself his work. His voice, his eyes, his gestures, are his art, +and admiration of it cannot be separated from admiration for him. This +renders the ephemeral glory which he earns so vivid, and in some +measure may be supposed to compensate for its short duration. The +great of the earth, whose fame has arisen like the shining of the sun, +have often toiled through their whole lives in comparative obscurity, +through the narrow and dark paths of existence. Their reward was never +given to their hands here,--it is but just their glory should be +lasting." Vol. ii. pp. 61-62.] + + + + +EDITORIAL REMARKS. + + +In presenting the ninth number of the Messenger to our readers, we +take occasion to make some brief references to its contents. Besides +contributions from old friends, to whom we have been formerly +indebted, it contains _seven_ prose articles from new correspondents, +some of whom are entirely unknown to us, all of whom are welcome to +our pages. + +Of the sixth number of "_Sketches of the History of Tripoli_," it is +only necessary to say that it is worthy of and sustains the character +of the preceding numbers. The same may be said of the "_Letters of a +Sister_," in which the vivacity that has elicited so much praise of +the former numbers, is not diminished. + +The descriptions of Virginia scenery, in the article on "_The House +Mountain_," and the "_Visit to the Virginia Springs_," are highly +attractive. The former is remarkable for its graphic delineations and +glowing imagery--the latter abounds with useful information, conveyed +in an attractive style; and its writer describes the scenes he visited +with great clearness. + +The third number upon the "_Fine Arts_," is an admirable article. The +writer warms as he progresses with his subject. + +We would particularly recommend the article on the "_National +Importance of Mineral Possessions_," &c. The application of general +truths to our own peculiar situation, is made with much force in that +article. + +Our stranger correspondent, _Anthony Absolute_, has very delicately +satirized the opposers of the amusement of dancing. His style is +evidently modelled after that of some of the numbers of the Spectator, +and he is uncommonly happy in keeping up a vein of quiet humor +throughout. His grave irony is highly amusing. + +The writer of an article on "_Recent American Novels_," seems to us to +have expressed some opinions hastily, and to estimate the merits of +some of our native writers incorrectly. He has surely overlooked the +author of _Calavar_, in classing the successors of Cooper and Irving, +as "dwarfish," and their efforts as "puny." He was not in fault in +passing over the author of "_Horse-Shoe Robinson_," as that work had +not appeared when his article was penned; and _Swallow Barn_ does not +rank as a novel. We believe that Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Bird will prove +themselves worthy successors to Cooper and Irving (so far as the +latter may be considered a novel writer,) when the mantles shall fall +from their shoulders--nor will Mr. Sims, the author of Guy Rivers and +the Yemassie, (either of which, we apprehend, are superior to the +Insurgents,) be far behind. The reviewer seems to us rather +inconsistent in his allusions to Cooper, Irving, Paulding and Miss +Sedgewick: But we have not room to particularize. With regard to the +two former, the opinions of a _Young Scotchman_, in the interesting +letter which we publish in this number, are worthy of attention. We +are happy to say, that extracts from his "_Letters on the United +States_," will be continued in the Messenger. We doubt not they will +be read with avidity. + +"_Lion-izing_," by Mr. Poe, is an inimitable piece of wit and satire: +and the man must be far gone in a melancholic humor, whose risibility +is not moved by this tale. Although the scene of the story is laid in +the foreign city of "_Fum Fudge_," the disposition which it satirizes +is often displayed in the cities of this country--even in our own +community; and will probably still continue to exist, unless Mrs. +Butler's Journal should have disgusted the fashionable world with +_Lions_. + +The prominent article for this month, we have not yet alluded to; it +is the "_Dissertation on the Characteristic Differences between the +Sexes; the Influence of Woman_," &c.--a subject of great and abiding +interest, treated in a masterly manner. The comprehensive views taken +by the writer, of the whole subject; the copiousness of his +illustrations, and the happy manner in which they are brought to +sustain his various positions, are striking features in this able +article. We think we incur no risk in expressing the belief, that this +Dissertation when completed, will be the most perfect essay on the +subject, in the whole range of English literature. + +"_The Grave of Forgotten Genius_," and "_Lionel Granby_," will have +their attractions, we doubt not, for many of our readers. The writer +of the latter possesses powers of description of no mean order. He +paints objects and characters skilfully, though at times his style is +somewhat overloaded with words. We shall receive his future chapters +with pleasure. + +The poetical contributions for this number are generally excellent. We +are constrained to forbear any particular notice of them, by the +briefness of the space which we have to occupy. + + + + +TO CORRESPONDENTS. + + +The humorous strictures on modern fashions, by our friend "_Oliver +Oldschool_," did not reach us in time for insertion in the present +number; he will appear in our next. We have received two tales from +"an inexperienced girl of sixteen," entitled "_Lucy Carlton_" and +"_The Sanfords_," which, although they exhibit considerable talent, +are very deficient in incident. The sketching of character is mostly +good, but the author fails to make effectual use of the materials +which she brings together. We shall insert "The Sanfords" in our next, +as the best of the two. The story entitled "_Remorse_," is +inadmissible. The narrative presents some dramatic scenes and +situations, of which the writer has but partially availed himself; but +defects of language form the principal objection to his story. In +answer to _Octavian's_ inquiry, we must say that his lines are by no +means equal to those from his pen formerly inserted in the Messenger. +And as it would be impossible to publish all the contributions +received, unless the Messenger were twice its size, we are constrained +to leave out some which are even passable. "_English Poetry_, Chap. +II," and further extracts from the _MSS. of D. D. Mitchell_, will +appear in the next No. "_The Curse of the Betrayed One_" possesses +considerable merit, but is deformed by faults of metre, easily +amendable. With the author's consent we will make a few corrections in +his poem, and insert it in our next number. We will exercise the same +pruning prerogative upon the tale of "_The Reclaimed_." The poetical +contributions of Mrs. Emma Willard, of Troy, are welcome, and will +appear as early as possible; also some beautiful effusions of a +deceased lady of Matthews county, Virginia. "_Extracts from the +Autobiography of Pertinax Placid_, Chap. I," will have an early +insertion. + +In addressing the numerous correspondents whose favors have not yet +appeared in our numbers, we avail ourselves of the opportunity to make +a few general remarks, which are due both to ourselves and to those +who write for the Messenger. + +Although our poetical contributions have in general met with high +approbation, and though many effusions which we have had the honor to +present to the public, have received the just praise due to the lofty +promptings of the muse--we have noticed some strictures upon certain +articles which we had considered it our duty to insert in that +department. We do not purpose to defend all our poetical contributions +from censure. It is far from us to claim for them the merit of uniform +excellence. But we wish to show our readers, that to look for such +uniformity in the contents of a work like ours, would be unreasonable, +and to inform them of the principle upon which our selections are made +from the mass of materials placed before us. + +It must be held in mind that the Messenger is a new enterprise, in a +section of country where such a work has never before been sustained +for any considerable length of time--that one of its leading objects +is to draw forth and encourage literary talent, and to build up in the +south a literature distinct and separate from that which shines in the +legal forum or the arena of politics. In order to carry into effect +this object, (which we think laudable in itself,) it is necessary that +we should display a greater degree of forbearance with inexperienced +aspirants to literary honors, than would be expected from a +discriminating editor, placed in other circumstances. Had we merely +the task before us to amuse our readers, it would not be difficult to +select from other sources the materials for our work, and abandoning +all editorial responsibility, render the contents of our pages +unexceptionable, by a choice of the best productions from other +publications. But would this course fulfil the great object of the +Messenger?--would it compensate our readers for the suppression of the +many noble productions which we have already presented to them--works +which, although in a minor form, we trust those who have perused them +"would not willingly let die?" The duty we have assumed, is to foster +the productions of native writers--to awaken, especially in the south, +a literary spirit, an ambition to excel in the cultivation of polite +learning--and to give our humble aid in stimulating the ambition of +our youth, by offering a fit repository for the offspring of taste and +genius. Whether we collect and place on permanent record the fugitive +productions of men already known to fame in other walks, or bring +forward to public applause the first efforts of youthful talent, we +equally fulfil the main object of our labors, by exciting the +admiration and awakening the ambition of others, possessing latent +powers perhaps unknown to themselves, until struck forth by a natural +and praiseworthy emulation. + +In the performance of the duty which this object enjoins upon us, +there are many sources of perplexity of which our readers can scarcely +be aware. Our judgment in regard to the numerous contributions which +we receive from all quarters, leans, as it ought, to "mercy's side." +The exhibition of ability, although qualified by many faults of +conception or manner, claims our attention and favor. We look to the +future; and if in the most faulty production we find promise of +improving excellence, or redeeming traits which counterbalance the +writer's errors, we think it our duty to afford him an opportunity and +stimulus for improvement. For these reasons articles are not seldom +inserted in the Messenger, which exhibit defects of conception and +style, which it is no part of our duty to amend, but which we believe +to be counterbalanced by beauties or merits indicating that their +authors are capable of better things. + +One complaint that we have to make of our contributors, regards the +carelessness with which they write; for this want of correctness, +mostly verbal it is true, but frequently extending to the sense, +rendered obscure by faulty construction of language, imposes upon the +editor the constant task of revision, and the responsibility of +correcting manuscripts at his own discretion. The labor we do not +grudge; but it should be performed by the writers themselves; and we +cannot too strenuously urge upon our friends greater care than in many +instances they have thus far bestowed upon the finishing of their +articles. Their own careful revision would no doubt lead to the more +perfect amendment of inaccuracies than could be made by an editor, who +in most instances cannot be supposed to share the full views of the +writer on the matters in hand. Our own relief from the labor of +revision is a secondary consideration, and one which we should not +urge; but by relieving us from much of that labor, the writers would +greatly increase the value of their contributions. + + + + +DEFERRED ARTICLES. + + +Among the numerous articles for which room could not be found in the +present number, are, reviews of Lee's Napoleon, Bancroft's History of +the United States, Sparks's Washington Correspondence, The Infidel, a +novel, by Doctor Bird, and a notice of the excellent Inaugural Address +of President Vethake, of Washington College. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. +I., No. 9, May, 1835, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57871 *** |