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tant religious, as well as political truths, will be recognized. The following passage breathes a spirit worthy of a Christian pastor, and contains an acknowledgment which must encourage him, and advice by which he may profit.

"Let it not, however, be said, that because there are no laws which fetter the conscience, or religion incorporated in the government, that the people are insensible to the obligations of religious worship. I have been in many parts of the globe, and I may safely aver, that this is the only country where religion flows in one pure, broad, rapid stream, supported by the intelligence of the people, and the liberality and toleration which are always the effect of moral and enlightened habits. We have only to fear the effects of too great a zeal, which, in mistaking the salutary principles of religion, may render crooked the fair and noble path of toleration. It is incumbent on us who enjoy blessings in this country which are denied to many of our brethren throughout the world, to render ourselves worthy of equal rights by duly estimating their importance, and enlightening the mind, so as to be fully sensible of the nature and value of those privileges. The means are within our reach. It is a system of sound education, alone, which tends to strengthen the faculties, improve the morals, and unfold the intellectual powers of man. To rescue our fellow creature from a state of ignoranceto enlighten his understanding--to render him sensible of the benefactions of Godto excite that laudable ambition-that spirit of emulation-that noble and elevated disposition which the cultivated and accomplished mind is capable of attaining, are the most pleasing, the most rational efforts of a benevolent heart."

Let us not, however, by the commendations we bestow upon this Discourse, where its language is coincident with that of Christianity, lay ourselves open to the suspicion of being ready to compromise any doctrine of Christian faith. We must still regard the Jews, however they may have approximated to us in some particulars, as wanderers from the fold. God in his own good time will gather them in. It becomes us, in the interval, not to obstruct his gracious purposes.

Mr. Noah indulges some speculations in regard to the return of the Jews to Palestine, which probably have not occurred to most of our readers. It is singular that the Jews as well as Christians calculate on this event, though their belief in it is placed on different grounds, and they anticipate diametrically opposite consequences from it.

"Never were prospects for the restoration of the Jewish nation to their ancient rights

and dominion more brilliant than they are at present. There are upwards of seven millions of Jews known to be in existence throughout the world, a number greater than at any period of our history, and possessing more wealth, activity, influence, and talents, than any body of people of their number on earth. The signal for breaking the Turkish sceptre in Europe will be their emancipation; they will deliver the north of Africa from its oppressors; they will assist to establish civilization in European Turkey, and may revive commerce and the arts in Greece; they will march in triumphant numbers, and possess themselves once more of Syria, and take their rank among the governments of the earth. This is not fancy. I have been too much among them in Europe and Africa-I am too well acquainted with their views and sentiments in Asia, to doubt their intentions. They hold the purse strings, and can wield the sword; they can bring 100,000 men into the field. Let us then hope that the day is not far distant when, from the operation of liberal and enlightened measures, we may look towards that country where our people have established a mild, just, and honourable govern ment, accredited by the world, and admired by all good men. Let us not seek the errors of other faiths, but calmly and peaceably pursue our own, in which there are no erLet us respect and assist all religions which acknowledge God, and whose principles are justice and mercy. We, of all others, can hold out the hand of toleration: the time will come when the wanderer who has been led astray in search of other gods, will acknowledge the unity and omnipotence of the God of Israel, when persecution shall cease, and the groan of oppression be heard no more. Between two good men professing different faiths, no difference exists; both are born equal-both have a right the road to honour should be open to both, to worship the Almighty in his own way; for both must pursue the same path to immortality."

rors.

tract at full length, as, whilst it shows the We thought it proper to give this exnature of the expectation which the Jews indulge, it discovers a latitude of charity which has not often been allowed them.

highly creditable to Mr. Noah. The style As a composition, this performance is language chaste. There are a few gramis perspicuous and energetic, and the matical errors in it, which are, however, evidently attributable to an inadvertence, which is pardonable in one who has superadded a production of this nature, to the labours of an editor of a daily paper. Our own experience of editorial distraction will incline us to compound for similar lenity,

Hanc veniam damus, petimusque vicissim

E.

ART. 2. The Poems, Odes, Songs, and other Metrical Effusions of SAMUEL WoonWORTH, Author of "The Champions of Freedom," &c. 12mo. pp. 288. NewYork. Abraham Asten and Matthias Lopez.

TWO

WO motives are assigned by the publishers for giving this volume to the world, "a desire to rescue from oblivion the fugitive productions of a native poet," and, "a desire to relieve their unfortunate author from those pecuniary embarrassments, which have been created principally by the benevolence of his disposition; embarrassments which are the more painful to the sufferer, inasmuch as they tend to oppose the genuine ebullitions of a heart governed by honour, integrity, and every virtuous principle."

The statement of these motives is creditable, neither to the discernment, nor the generosity of the public; and affords another instance of the applicability of the often quoted remark of Juvenal:Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi.

Slow rises worth by poverty depressed.

-

From the biographical sketch, given by the publishers, it appears that Mr. Woodworth has hitherto been the favorite of disappointment and misfortune. He was born in the town of Scituate, Mass. 1785. While yet almost a child, he began to "lisp in numbers." With the clergyman of his native town, some time was spent in acquiring a partial knowledge of English and Latin grammar; and he had once the joyful expectation of being indulged with a collegiate education; but the poverty of his parents, and the cold prudence of the wealthy, rendered this expectation vain. Frustrated in his wishes, he served an apprenticeship with a printer, in Boston; subsequently laboured as a journeyman; and has since been an author, and an editor and proprietor of several periodical publications; struggling with poverty and debts, and strenuously contending for competence and fame. Love too, (for, excepting one of the Wartons, what poet has not been a lover?) contributed to delight, distract, and impoverish him. In the volume before us, we see so many disjecta membra poeta, that the short relation of the bard's buffettings, prefixed to the work, has not been read without sympathy and sorrow; nor without the ineffectual regret that the benevolence of fortune is so frequently extended to the undeserving; while genius and merit are consigned to indigence and obscurity.

"Ah! who can tell how hard it is to climb
The steep where Fame's proud temple shines
afar!
Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime
Has felt the influence of malignant star,
And wag'd with fortune an eternal war,
Check'd by the scoff of pride, by envy's frown,
And poverty's unconquerable bar,
In life's low vale remote has pin'd alone,
Then dropp'd into the grave, unpitied and un-
known!"

That every man is suæ fortunæ faber, the architect of his own fortune, we utterly deny. To the mechanic and daylabourer, the remark may be applied. If a dollar be daily earned, and but half of that sum daily spent, arithmetic may teach the consequence: in a given time so many hundred dollars may be amassed. Genius seldom makes such calculations; if at all in life, rarely in early life. Genius usually needs a guardian long after the term of legal infancy; yet, before and after, is too headstrong to submit to the control of another. Of all men of talents the poet of indigence is probably least inclined, especially in youth, to listen to prudence. Indeed, he then knows what is prudence only by her name. Airy castles are to him certainties. He can without difficulty, almost without effort, establish his fame; be caressed by the great, and beloved by the fair. After frequent refusals, an ode is admitted into the corner of a newspaper. When it first meets his eyes, his heart throbs with pleasure. Now comes the inquiry, "Who wrote it?" The author feels immortality in every vein. A few, unfit to judge, highly extol it. And of those who are capable of correct decision, how few would wake the young bard from his golden dream? The certainty of his celebrity is now established. He lays a thousand plans; and follows now one, and then another; till after many years of constant poverty and occasional hope, he either throws himself away in despondency, or, never expecting to reach the eminence once fondly anticipated, and cursing the unhappy hour when he first blundered on a rhyme, he wisely weighs the solidity of substantial fare, with the emptiness of niggardly praise; and betakes himself with assiduity to some occupation which shall ensure the former

Of how many in Europe, of how many in this country, is such the short history; equally the history of such as deserve,

and such as never could deserve, the poetic laurel. Some, conscious of their intellectual powers, through every opposition pass unappalled, till they triumphantly grasp the object of their long pursuit. Of the poetic exaltation of others, some fortunate contingency may be the principal cause. But of the hundreds, if not thousands, of those, who have rhymed in their boyhood, within the last forty years, how few are known, or will ever be known, to the reading world! Of such, how melancholy would be the faithful bistory,-how mournful the tale of their soul-blasting disappointments-the relation of their struggles and sorrows; these closing existence with the repeated glass; those under the consumings of lacerated sensibility; some in the unwholesomeness and shame of incarceration, and others indignantly by the steel, the bullet, or the mortal opiate!

We are perhaps straying. The short account, prefixed to this volume, of the author's sad changes and mishaps of life, have led us aside from what, perhaps, more strictly belongs to this article. One or two remarks further, and we shall attend to the work before us.

As an apology for the want of patronage in this country, it has been said that we are yet a young country; that there are among us no men of overgrown estates, like those of the opulent noblemen of Europe; and that it is not to be expected that individuals should patronise, or pension genius, whether in the pursuit of science, or literature, or the arts; but that the public should be the sole patron. Alas! the public is too slow to discern; or rather, it is impossible it should, in most cases, be able to discern merit in obscurity. A Homer, a Shakespeare, or a Zeuxis, might here starve, ere the public would know of his existence. When a Ian's name has become celebrated, and it is fashionable to extol him, public patronage is often immense. Let a Scott write the feeblest commonplace, or a Byindite nothing but extravagance, he will have his half a crown per line; while an woknown Milton might offer a Comus or a L'Allegro, an Il Penscroso or a Lycidas, and, in great likelihood, no bookseller would risk publication; or, the publication risked, it would be quite uncertain if a dozen copies could be sold.

What author receives a pension in the United States? We have never heard of more than one instance. Several years ago, a number of gentlemen, in Boston, subscribed a certain sum each, to be paid to Hannah Adains during life. The names

of these gentlemen ought to be known as the first, who have set a liberal, a noble example; an example which should be imitated; and which would, if imitated, be followed by results, never injurious, often most honourable to the literary reputation of the country. Suppose a young man should be discovered, in indigent circumstances, but unquestionably endowed with extraordinary talents for poetry, or for painting; how many individuals are there, in any of our principal cities, whose annual incomes, counted by thousands, would not feel a contribution sufficient to enable him, unembarrassed, to pursue his studies till such excellence should be attained, as would not only bring gratification and honour to his patrons, but hasten the upward progress of our country's character to an elevation equal to that of any of the proud monarchies of Europe? We know a geologist, skilled in his favourite science, and ardent in its pursuit, who has examined, with great labour and ability, the different strata of rock from Catskill mountains to Boston, and has published a profile of the country-the first of the kind in America-who laments the want of pecuniary means, perhaps a hundred dollars, to enable him to pursue his researches to the White Hills. We know not that a small pension would make him a Werner; but we know how backward we are in the knowledge of geology and mineralogy, compared with other countries; and this instance is, probably, only one, among very many, of the impossibility of duly attending to studies which might lead to discoveries most useful to the country, simply for the want of such small supplies as the wealthy might furnish without an effort, and with the utmost convenience.

Of Mr. Woodworth we know little, excepting what appears in the volume before

us.

Confident, however, we are, that, were his mind at ease, and were he to devote a few years to the accomplishment of some poetic work of magnitude, there would be found in it much more to admire than to censure;-that its predominant qualities would be excellence. The want of a classical education, frequently seen in this volume, would be in a great degree remedied by time and study.We sincerely wish he could be indulged with leisure, and quiet, and time, for the creation and polishing of something more worthy his genius than the publication of these inconsiderable and hastily written pieces: most of them doubtless proper for the occasion that gave them birth, but few of them doing more than showing

1

how much more might be done. This wish is also applicable to many a one at present, as Dryden says of himself, "in the rudiments of poetry, without name or reputation in the world."

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"The Most of the pieces are short. Quarter Day," and "New-Haven," are of the greatest length. To the citizens of New-York, who annually witness the bustle of this day, the perusal of "The Quarter Day," will be an acceptable treat. Among the small pieces, we first select for insertion "The Wreath of Love;" not because it is superior to many others, but because it will, at least as much as any other, give the reader a correct idea of the author's manner.

"THE WREATH OF LOVE.

Let Fame her wreath for others twine,
The fragrant Wreath of Love be mine,
With balm-distilling blossoms wove;
Let the shrill trumpet's hoarse alarms
Bid laurels grace the victor's arms,

Where Havoc's blood-stain'd banners move:
Be mine to wake the softer notes,
Where Acidalia's banner floats,

And wear the gentler Wreath of Love.

The balmy rose let stoics scorn;
Let squeamish mortals dread the thorn,

And fear the pleasing pain to prove ;.
I'll fearless bind it to my heart;
While ev'ry pang its thorns impart,

The flowret's balsam shall remove :
For, sweeten'd by the nectar'd kiss,
'Tis pain that gives a zest to bliss,

And freshens still the Wreath of Love.

Give me contentment, peace, and health, A moderate share of worldly wealth,

And friends, such blessings to improve; A heart to give when mis'ry pleads, To heal each rankling wound that bleeds And ev'ry mental pain remove : But with these give-else all denyThe fair, for whom I breathe the sigh; And wedlock be a Wreath of Love.

Connubial bliss unknown to strife,
A faithful friend, a virtuous wife,

Be mine for many years to prove :
Our wishes one, within each breast
The dove of peace shall make her nest,
Nor ever from the ark remove;
Till call'd to heav'n; through ages there,
Be ours the blissful lot to wear

A never fading Wreath of Love." Several trifling errors may be here discovered; (the wound that rankles has generally ceased to bleed ;) but the lines possess merit, and plainly indicate of what the poet would be capable, "under the shelter of academic bowers," released from "inconvenience and distraction."

The following stanzas, without hesitation, we pronounce beautiful. In reading them we think of Montgomery.

"THE TOMB OF HENRY.

Where Hudson's murm'ring billows
Kiss Jersey's verdant shore,
Beneath those spreading willows
Sleeps Henry of the moor.
The pride of all the plain
Was Anna's chosen swain;
But Anna weeps,
For Henry sleeps

Beneath the weeping willow-tree.

They lov'd with pure affection:
Their artless souls were true:
The promising connexion
Their friends with rapture view;
And name the morn of May
Their happy wedding day.
But Anna weeps,
For Henry sleeps
Beneath the weeping willow-tree.
They hail the rising morrow

Which dawns to see them blest:
But, ah! ere eve, what sorrow
Fills Anna's lovely breast:

She sees the Hudson's wave Become her Henry's grave : And Anna weeps, For Henry sleeps, Beneath the weeping willow-tree. She tears her flowing tresses; Invokes his parted breath; And with her wild caresses Invites him back from death: But, ah! her lips' warm kiss Imparts no glow to his : And Anna weeps, For Henry sleeps

Beneath the weeping willow-tree.
She sees beneath the willow

Her lover laid to rest;
The earth his nuptial pillow,
And not her virgin breast.
Around his verdant tomb
The early daisies bloom;
There Anna weeps,
There Henry sleeps
Beneath the weeping willow-tree."

Few stanzas are written with more felicity than the last of the above! Campbell would not have been displeased had it been attributed to him.

From the specimens we have given, we doubt not the reader is disposed to think favourably, if not highly, of the poetical abilities of Mr. Woodworth.

It is not our intention to critically examine the merits of the different pieces, nor to enter into a minute specification of such errors as a careful scrutiny might doubtless detect; and we conclude with the expression of our sincerest wishes that the author of this volume may yet, in trite language, see better days; when, though he has bid a poetical farewell to the muse, he will feel the pleasure and see the propriety of remembering the adage, that a bad promise is better broken than kept.

P.

Letters, from Phil. Fudge,
Edited by THOMAS BROWN,

ART. 3. The Fudge Family in Paris: in a series of
Esq. Master Bobby Fudge, and Miss Biddy Fudge.
the Younger, Author of the Two-penny Postbag. 18mo. pp. 126. New-York.
W. B. Gilley.

IF

Fa book is to be accounted a good one which answers the end that the author proposed to himself in writing it, we must needs speak favourably of this ;for as its main object appears to be the exhibition of the ridiculous, so its almost infallible effect must be to provoke risibility. We will freely confess that we enjoyed a very hearty laugh over it, and we are content that any one who has read it and preserved the composure of his muscles, shall reprove us for our levity. The praise, however, to which a production is entitled from its correspondence with the intent of the author, is qualified by the nature of that intent. To have succeeded in a reprehensible design, is an unenviable commendation; and merely to have excited merriment, hardly amounts to fame. We do not, indeed, consider this work to have originated in any higher

motive than that to which we have al

ready ascribed it, though it betrays a degree of political animosty which exempts it from the negative character of harmless satire, without, perhaps, acquiring it a more laudatory denomination. We are inclined to believe that the degrading personal allusions which abound in these poetic epistles, are introduced rather for pungency of effect than from malevolence of purpose. But this kind of mischievous waggery, is a dangerous propensity to encourage. A wicked wit, in his merciless warfare, spares neither friend, nor foe, nor age, nor sex. No one is safe from his attacks; the loudest laugher to-day, is liable to be made the laughing-stock of to-morrow. Nor is merit any security against the shafts of the satirist. The eye

of malice will discover some vulnerable spot in the veriest Achilles, some crevice in the most perfect panoply, where the marksman may infix his envenomed dart. In truth, men of splendid talents and virtues, as they are most calculated to excite envy, are most exposed to its assaults. The Athenian, who avowed that he voted for the ostracism of Aristides because he hated to hear him called The Just, only acted upon the same principle which governs thousands who have not the candour to acknowledge it. The faults and foibles of those in elevated stations are, besides, more open to view, and the vulgar delight in exaggerating them. Junius, in admitting one good act to have been performed

by the duke of Bedford, in the course of
a long life, observes, that "it is not the
less conspicuous for standing alone." The
same may be said, with equal truth, of a
solitary stain on the reputation of a great
and good man. Whilst, then, we would

Put in every honest hand a whip,

To lash the rascal naked through the world,
let us be cautious how we compel the
virtuous, or the unfortunate, to run the
gauntlet.

this volume is unjust, we shall not under-
That any of the political crimination in
take to say, though we are yet to learn
that all of it is deserved;-but the taunts
avoidable and inoffensive, deserve repro-
at qualities of mind and body, both un-
bation, and the light mention of female
rance of many of the individuals alluded
names is base and unmanly. Our igno-
ing of the propriety, as well as of the
to, disqualifies us, to be sure, from judg-
point, of inany of the poet's innuendos.
their application.
Our remarks, therefore, are general in

ed with the Fudge family, (or, at least,
To bring our readers at once acquaint-
with one branch of it,) and with the ob-
jects of their tour, we will take an extract
der date of Amiens, which informs us of
from Miss Biddy Fudge's first letter, un-
all these things, with that precision which
we usually find, on similar topics, in the cor-
just let loose from a boarding-school. The
respondence of young ladies of eighteen,
letter is addressed to Miss Dorothy
of Clonskilty, in Ireland. After relating
their adventures, from the time of their
landing, Miss Biddy runs on-

"Our party consists, in a neat Calais job,
Of Papa and myself, Mr. CONNOR and BOB.
You remember how sheepish BoB look'd at Kil-
But, Lord! he's quite alter'd—they've made hima
randy,
a dandy;

A thing, you know, whisker'd, great-coated,
and lac'd,

waist:

Like an hour-glass, exceedingly small in the
Quite a new sort of creatures, unknown yet to
scholars,

With heads, so immovably stuck in shirt-collars,
That seats like our music-stools soon must be
To twirl, when the creatures may wish to look
found them,

round them!

In short, dear," a Dandy" describes what I mean,
And BoB's far the best of the genus I've seen:

T

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