guishing faintness, begin to stand and to rest himself; if the moon should wander from her beaten course, the times and seasons of the year blend themselves by disordered and confused mixture, the winds breathe out their last gasp, the clouds yield no rain, the earth be defeated of heavenly influence, the fruits of the earth pine away, as children at the withered breasts of their mother, no longer able to yield them relief; what would become of man himself, whom these things do now all serve ?" Where would empires and communities. exist, and where would man find rest to his weary feet, if he should forget, and they should cease to obey, those laws, which regulate the conduct of beings superiour and subordinate? The principles of these laws flow from the fountains of nature and philosophy; and the study of them expands the powers of the intellect, while it gives life and activity to the vir tues of the heart. Ancient lawgivers enlisted poetry and musick in the civilization of society, and in extending the influence of the laws. In the early stages of Grecian history, the judicial codes were expressed in verse and adapted to musick. Let us not however suppose, that the science of jurisprudence lost any of its dignity by the use of verse and song, since there was a time, according to Plutarch, "when even history, philosophy, every action and passion, which required grave or serious discussion, was, written in poetry and adapted to musick. The praises of their gods, their prayers and thanksgivings after victory, were all composed in verse, some through the love of harmony, and some through custom." The laws of Charondas were sung at the banquets of the Athenians; and the youth of Crete committed their laws to memory "with accompaniments of musical melody, in order that, by the enchantment of harmony, the sentiments might be more forcibly impressed on their minds." I do not wonder then, that Plato in his republick should commend musick, and that in his enthusiasm he should declare, "that education, so far as it respected the mind, consisted in harmony." It was an elegant and just remark of the Roman orator, that the sciences are associated together and delight in each other's company. Their harmonious intercourse resembles the dance of the Muses round the altar of Jupiter. The law claims kindred with the noblest of the sciences, and even aspires to an alliance with our divine religion. Both flow from the same source, and both promote the felicity of those beings, on which they jointly operate. They unite to impose restraint on the injustice of men, but in different modes: the one by the silent but powerful operations of conscience; the other by the machinery of the civil power. The laws of human society would confessedly be imperfect without the aid of religion, whose voice, though uttered in whispers, is heard in the morning and in the evening, by day and by night, in the retirement of domestick life, and in the intercourse of civil society. This favourite science must, like every other, sit at the feet of religion, and own its obligations to her sacred instruction. To the votaries of christianity are we indebted for the preservation of what little science gleamed through the long night, in which the moral world was for centuries invelloped. To them are we indebted for the discovery and preservation of the Institutes of Justinian, and the ry. works of the civil law, a more il lustrious monument to the glory of that emperour, than titles of victoTo christianity are we indebted for political knowledge and for settling upon a proper foundation the civil and religious rights of subjects and rulers. While we recognize our common obligations to that system, which breathes peace on earth," and confess, that the science of jurisprudence owes to it all its perfection; we devoutly hope, that the child may never lift up its hand against its parent, lest it should wither, nor dishonour its divine original. Were I to be asked the qualifications of a professor of the law, I should say, that, like the orator whom Cicero describes, he should know the nature and powers of language, and the great variety of things. To elegance, wit, learning, rapidity of thought, and urbanity of manners, he should add an intimate acquaintance with the heart, the source of human conduct. No man can converse well on things, of which he is ignorant. The empty flourish of words will soon betray the puerility of the sentiment, and the feebleness of the images in the speaker's mind. And therefore Sir Edward Coke, whose authority may always be quoted without a charge of pedantry, recommended to the students the study of all arts and sciences, "I cannot exclude," he says, "the knowledge" of the arts and sciences from the professor of jurisprudence. "Since the knowledge of them is necessary and profitable." In this science, ignorance contracts the liberality of the mind, and is as closely connected with litigiousness and the low and despicable arts of the pettifogger, as in religion it is united with fanaticism and spiritual pride. Whoever glows with a pure love to his country, whoever has a soul, which can discern and estimate the beauty of order in the conduct of affairs, of harmony among states and individuals, of right, of security, and truth, will duly respect the system of jurisprudence, which is the bond of society, and from which all its happiness proceeds. Finally the professor of the law, while he drinks deeply of the fountains of his science, ought to purify and exalt his taste by the diligent study of the models of ancient genius in eloquence, poetry, and morals. Those writings though now grown venerable by time, still retain the purple light of beauty and genius. They demonstrate the sublime heights, to which the intellect may aspire, and they exhibit the superiority of its glory to that of arts and arms. In any community, that the courts of law may be fountains of justice, from which may issue the healthful streams of equity, not only should the judges be men of learning and virtue, having no fear but the fear of God, but the legislator should be adorned with illustrious qualifications. His intelligence must discover and apply those principles of right and wrong, which are applicable to the variety of things, on which laws must operate. He ought to know the history of nations and of his own country, the forms of their government, and the tendency of different political systems to promote human happiness. He should be endowed with a generous nature, enriched with the treasures of learning, adding to a clear intellect and passions subdued, not only innocence of life and freedom from suspicion, but the positive virtues and excellencies of the heart. In fine, if he is a man of honour, experience, integrity, disinterested, freely chosen, and free from the chains of party spirit, he is formed for the Law, giver, not of a single community only, but of nations. Since to know the laws, by which we are governed, and to yield to them a free obedience, is an essential part of the science and duty of life; I have thought, that their study ought to be in introduced into our University, and and make part of its liberal institutions. Two of the learned professions receive there all the advantages which can be derived from books, and from Professors, who add to the knowledge of ancient learning the embellishments of modern grace, and elegance. The benefactors, whose names are mentioned with due encomiums on its annual solemnity, have laid rich foundations for the study of the other sciences. Private munificence has recently established an institution for the culture of Botany. Eloquence likewise, under the auspices of the American Quintilian, the ornament both of the senate and the chair, and able to exhibit a model as well as to give the ; precepts of his art, has just joined the fraternity. But when, I ask, are wit, learning, richness of language, harmony of utterance and all the treasures of eloquence, most ho nourably employed? Surely when defining the boundaries of right and wrong, when defending innocence, when pursuing guilt, when, in fine, they are subservient to that science, "which employs in its theory the noblest faculties of the soul, and exerts in its practice the cardinal virtues of the heart." A new object presents itself for the munificence of our fellow citizens. Can they render a more valuable service to their country, than by contributing to the excellence of its laws, and to the purity of their administration? Soon then may there be enrolled among the publick benefactors of that University some generous patron of Jurisprudence, whose name shall be encircled with wreaths of perpet ual honour, and from whom there may constantly flow rays of a divine quality for the ornament of the state and for the happiness of the citizens. From Aikin's Annual Review, vol. 4th, page 563, WE maintain that the poets, who have flourished during the reign of George III, have produced as great a quantity of lasting poetry, as those who flourished during the reign of Elizabeth, or any other half-century of the British annals. The tragedies of that age live so will the comedies of ours. Our chorus-dramas, and our ballads, are decidedly superiour to those of our ancestors so are our elegies, and songs,and odes. One good translation, Fairfax's Tasso, has been bequeathed to us from the times of Elizabeth: we have Sotheby's Oberon, and several other masterpieces, whose collective weight makes a counterpoise. And why should a rude age be favourable to the production of good poetry? Rudeness implies a publick of bad criticks; an ignorance of history, of antiquities, of the limits of nature, likely to tolerate the absurdest violations of truth, costume, geography, and proba bility. Accordingly, the poets of rude ages, who are no more nor less likely than others to have genius, commonly offend by want of taste: and this fre. quently in so great a degree, as to con demn their works to be refashioned; in which case, the modernizer runs away with the praise. Homer indeed originated early, but was probably corrected by a good critick, in an age of taste. Tasso, who has produced the next best poem to Homer, flourished in the au tumn, not the spring, of Italian culture. Virgil bloomed in an age of refinement, and Claudian was still a poet. The funeral song of Hacon is a fine ode: butso is the bard of Gray. The tragedies of Schiller, the fabliaux of Wieland, were composed at the very close of the eighteenth century; just before the French revolution had blunted the acme of human refinement. The proportion of good specimens of poetry produced in rude times is very small. POETRY. For the Monthly Anthology, EXPERIENCE; OR, "FOLLY AS IT FLIES." A POEM, DELIVERED BEFORE THE BK SOCIETY, AT CAMBRIDGE, aug. 28, 1806. BY BENJAMIN WHITWELL. PROVIDENCE having directed that man should be ignorant of future events, he is stimulated to proceed through life by the hope of enjoyment still to be attained. It is the moral of the poem to represent, if the same motives and passions actuate us which have governed others, that by observation of the course, which they have followed, we may learn where our own will terminatę; that similar conduct will produce similar consequences; that neglect and oblivion will be the fate of the indolent and profligate; fame the reward of industry and enterprise. These remarks are intended to be illustrated by an allegory. Life is represented as the journey of a day; the traveller, man, having passed the stage of infancy, and arrived near the close of youth, just verging on manhood, we find him encircled by Health, Love, and Beauty, eager to distribute their blessings. Discontented with his situation, he rejects them all. Care persuades him that he is a slave to the restraint of parental authority, and Hope whispers that Time will bring release. Time arrives, leaves Experience; the traveller, still advancing, requests Experience to direct his course, who answers, It is only my duty to advise, by the decree of fate; I must follow where you shall lead, and instruct you in your course, whether you shall yield to the persuasions of pleasure, or obey the dietates of wisdom. Observe this mirrour, oppose it to the past, and the reflection exhibits the future. They differ more in name than in reality, being alike to the eye of Omniscience. The traveller inspects the mirrour, and discovers a concourse of people spread over a flowery plain and a rugged mountain, the beauty of the plain exclu sively engrosses his attention, and, at his request, Experience explains the dif ferent objects which it presents. It is inhabited by the proud and indolent, who usurp the honours and rewards due to virtue and industry. Among these are the votaries of wealth and of fashion. After describing the court of Fashion, still proceeding in their journey, they successively view various parts of the plain. The pretenders to science, the literary fop, the itinerant, the lawyer, and the apostate politician described. This last character contrasted with that of the upright statesman, terminating with a respectful tribute to the late President Adams. When Experience ceases, the traveller again examines the objects which were first presented; he discovers a path leading through the plain to the mountain, on which the temple of Fame is erected. He is eager to ascend the summit. Experience replies, You must now be undeceived; having spent the day with Fashion and Folly, your strength is exhausted, and Tune, having nearly finished his course, the attempt would be fruitless. It was my duty to teach this lesson, that the future resembles the past. To impress this truth, your senses have been deceived by presenting to your view only the vacant frame of a mir rour; objects, which appeared reflected, were represented in distant prospect; you have not been an idle spectator, but an actor in those scenes of vice and pleasure. Had you chosen to have explored the mountain, which promised glory, and not to have wandered through the plain, which offered transient delight, my advice and instruction would have been as readily offered to have acquainted you with the various paths which lead to the summit. Farewell; and remember, it is the fate of man, that Time flies too soon, and Experience arrives too late. The traveller, having reviewed his course, observes before him Time, at a distance, on the edge of the horizon, descending with the western sun; not like him again to appear in the east; for as Time recedes, the eternal night of Death approaches. 'TIS Heaven's decree, in mercy, that mankind Is Life to man the journey of a day? 10 Let us pursue the traveller on his way, To overtake him ere his course incline Where the high roads of youth and manhood join. Now Health invites, behold the laughing hours Have strewed his path, and spread his couch with flowers; Whence is the stifled sigh of discontent? That Time his pinion poised, his sands have stopt, |