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THE BOSTON SPECTATOR.

LE REVEUR, No. I.

WHY is it that certain casuists pretend to honour the Creator, by degrading the character of his creature? The infinite distance between the eternal cause of all things and the most perfect of his works is acknowledged by

all. It would seem therefore that such scholasticks had but very contracted views of the perfections of Deity, and consider it necessary to lower the creature, lest he should appear to rival the Almighty himself, in the scale of being!

Some insist that the human mind, by its natural constitution is malignant, and a stranger to the dietates of pure benevolence, prone constantly to evil, and delighting rather to dwell on the imperfections, than the amiable qualities of those, with whose minds we may have become acquainted. Is this true? Is it not a libel on our species? I speak not cf those whose conduct may be supposed under the influence of supernatural impulses of piety, but of the general and prevailing character of mankind. If the natural tinge of our souls is that of malevolence, how is it that the virtues of our associates make a more durable impression, than the imperfections, which we cannot but discover, in every human being? Probably no person of a discriminating intellect ever yet held familiar intercourse with father, mother, child, husband, wife, or friend, who did not, in the most beloved, discover defects, from which, in some degree, no mortal being is exempt. Take from us that relative or friend, and what is the effect on our feelings? Do we dwell on their faults? Do we cherish the recollection of what we could not approve? Noas the form recedes from our view, the light shades which once marked it are seen no The lineaments of every virtue become more distinct-we soon see nothing but what we love, approve, and admire. The heathen were children of nature-they placed those departed friends, whose imperfections, while living, they must have experienced, among the stars and saw nothing but bright unsullied lustre. You have lost a friend. He was the friend of your soul-your companion, your confidant, but did not collisions of sentiment sometimes wound you! He is gone. Does not your heart now cling to his amiable qualities alone? You have lost-O God! to what privations are we exposed! yet were you not sensible, from the sweetest interchange of thought which life affords, that nothing human is wholly perfect? But now, what vision attends your contemplative hours? Is the melancholy of your solitude relieved by one repulsive trait in the dear image of both your waking and sleeping meditation? Do you recog aize a single defect? Happy as you were,

more.

Such is the soul of Turk, philosopher, infidel,
and Christian. Is this the demon impulse of
innate malignity, by which polemicks charac-
terize men? No; were it not for the pride
of opinion, it must in candour be supposed
their own consciousness would refute their
professed belief.

A PARALLEL.

He came

THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS.

55

A LITTLE Poem, by Lord Byron, under this title, is just published in this town. We have perused it with pleasure. It does not perhaps contain any passages, which could be selected as remarkably brilliant or sublime: but the story is interesting, and much more obvious than that of his GIAOUR: the language is pathetick and poetical; the measure varied, according to the modern style of versification, but smooth and harmonious. We have room only for a short extract, as a specimen, which will be found near the close of the poem.

"Ye! who would o'er his relicks weep
Go-seek them where the surges sweep
Their burthen round Sigaum's steep

And cast on Lemnos' shore :
The sea-birds shriek above the prey,
O'er which their hungry beaks delay-
As shaken on his restless pillow,
His head heaves with the heaving billow-
That hand-whose motion is not life--
Yet feebly seems to menace strife-
Flung by the tossing tide on high,,
Then levelled with the wave-
What recks it? though that corse shall lie
Within a living grave?

The bird that tears that prostrate form
Hath only robbed the meaner worm !
The only heart-the only eye

Had bled or wept to see him die,
Had seen those scattered limbs composed,
And mourned above his turban-stone-
That heart hath burst-that eye was closed-
Yea-closed before his own!"

MARSHAL D'ANCRE was born at Florence, (not Corsica) where his father, from a mere notary, became secretary of state. into France with Mary de Medicis, the wife of Henry IV. ; and at first he was only gentleman in ordinary to that Princess, but he afterwards became her master of the horse, and raised himself rapidly, by the credit that one of the Queen's maids, whom he married, had with her majesty. He bought the marquisate of Ancre, a little after the death of Henry IV. He was governour of Amiens, Peronne, Roie, and Mondidier. He became first gentleman of the King's bed chamber, and afterwards marshal of France. He obtained the government of Normandy and Pont d'Arche, and endeavoured to have that of Havre de Grace. In short, there was no longer any reason to doubt, that he aspired to have every thing at his disposal, for he filled every place with his own creatures. He disposed of the finances, he distributed offices, he got friends every where, both in the armies and in the towns, and "You will find nothing, my son, so comterrified those who opposed his faction, by ex-pletely laborious as great idleness, if you have amples of a severe revenge. There was other remedy for all these disorders but to kill him. That commission, given to Vitri, one of the captains of the life guards, was executed on the drawbridge of the Louvre, on the 24th of April, 1617. The next day the enraged populace, having taken the body out of the grave, dragged it up and down the streets. The parliament proceeded against the memory of the deceased, and declared him convicted of high treason, both diyine and human, decreed his son Ignoble, and incapable of holding any office in the kingdom.

no

That part of the French history is disgrace-
ful to the French name. Why did they suffer
themselves to be, so many years, slaves to a
Florentine? Was it not a base thing to bend
the knee, as they did, before that idol, whilst
they inwardly detested it? There are no finer
verses of Malherbe, than those which he made
on the fall of that idol. He pretends that it
justified Providence, which was, if one may
say so, arraigned, and in reatu, during that
say so, arraigned, and in reatu, during that
marshal's prosperity. He introduces the god
of the river Seine denouncing D'Ancre, and
foretelling him his approaching ruin.

Tes jours sont à la fin, ta chute se prépare,
Regarde moi pour la derniere fois.
C'est assez que cinq ans ton audace effrontée
Sur des ailes de cire aux étoiles montée

Princes et Rois ait osé défier;
La fortune t'apelle au rang de ses victimes,
Et le Ciel accusé de supporter tes crimes
g tresolu de se justi£er.”

LOUIS the Fourteenth, at the age of thirtythree, wrote a letter to his son, (le Grand Dauphin) containing directions for his conduct as a man, and a prince. Instructing him as an individual, like all mankind in quest of the means of happiness, he says

the misfortune to fall into that vice. You will
be disgusted, in the first place, with business,
afterwards with your pleasures, and at last with
idleness itself, and looking in vain for that
which you can never find, the sweets of repose
and of leisure, without some occupation or
some fatigue, that must always precede that
happy state.
Good sense acts naturally, and
without any great effort. What employs us
properly, is very often attended with less fa-
tigue, than that which would merely amuse us,
and the utility of it is always evident."

A VERY SAD DISEASE.
THE ingenious MARIVAUX, however meta-
physical and alembicated he may be in his
writings, was of great simplicity and bon hom-
mie in his character and conversation. Hav-
ing one day met with a sturdy beggar, who
asked charity of him, he replied-" My good
friend, strong and stout as you are, it is a
shame that you do not go to work."" Ah
master," said the beggar, "if you did but know
how lazy I am."-" Well," replied Marivaux,
"I see thou art an honest fellow, here's half a
crown for you.”

AD RUFUM KING.

"Quis est omnium tam ignarus rerum, tam rudis in republica, tam nihil unquam, nec de sua, nec de commune salute cogitans, qui non intelligat tua salute contineri suam? Omnia sunt excitanda tibi uni, quae jacere sentis, belli ipsius impetu, perculsa atque prostrata. Quae quidem tibi omnia belli vulnera sananda sunt ; [Bayle. | quibus, PRAETER TE, MEDERI NEMO POTEST.

Solution of QUESTION Vth. by Inspection. In a fence of these dimensions, the number of cubick feet will be found equal to its number of feet in length. The question then is, For a square field, how many square rods must there be that they may equal the number of feet round it?

A side of the field must be a number in rods which will produce the same product, whether multiplied by itself, to give the number of square rods in the field, or by 16 and 84 to give the number of fect round it, or, which is the same thing, by 66, the product of 164 and 4. It is evident then that 66 is the side of the field in rods; and 4356, its square, is the answer to the question.

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'Tis like the sun upon the polish'd cone,
The shades are many, but the light is one.
The light is one, its course is one to all,
And one its glorious self-depending ball.
But its bright beams with force unequal strike,
For none there are with opticks form'd alike.
The cobler sees not with the parson's eye,
He never dreams of hell nor heresy.
The politician sees alone his scheme ;
Alone the poet sees his golden dream.
The doctor wonders at the lawyer's skill;
The patient wonders at the doctor's bill.
The clown admires the courtier's repartee ;
The courtier nothing but his majesty.
Each sees, or thinks he sees, the mystick art
By which the other plays so well his part.
Further it were not prudent to aspire ;
Enough to see, to wonder, and admire.
But let Ambition wave her crescit rod,
Each quits the path he so securely trod,
And, blinded by the phantom's garish blaze,
Is lost and wilder'd in the magick maze.

40

50

When ENVY counterfeited CANDOUR'S smile,

And foul DUPLICITY, and cunning GUILE;
When these, with all their never-ending train,
Usurp'd the altars of the hallow'd plain ;
The patient Gods, indignant at the sight,
Forever vanish'd to the realms of light:

130

And with them fled their fairest favourite, TASTE, 120
Who saw her precepts, and her name eras'd,
Her sacred temple to its base overthrown,
And FASHION'S votaries supplant her own.-
No longer then was fair CONTENTMENT seen;
No longer FRIENDSHIP on the hill or green;
FAITH, last of all, was forc'd to quit the plain,
Though oft with CHARITY she came again,
And on the distant hills would sit and sigh,
To mark the change from joy to misery,
That the cold drop the colder marble wore,
While VIRTUE's tears but harden'd VICE the more.
Then clumsy CHANCE, that blunders on his way,
And fickle FASHION, held their lawless sway.
Then rose the tower, diverging from its base,
60 Enrich'd by all but symmetry and grace;
The dome and temple, that appear'd the same ;
And the tall pile, that seem'd to ask a name.
Groves sprang inverted, and the humble rill
Spurn'd the low vale to hasten up the hill;
And all that pleas'd, and all that charm'd before, 140
Lost or confounded now, could charm no more.

70

The seeds of TASTE are sown in every inind,
And fade or flourish, as the soil they find.
In low flat marshy grounds the plant is rare,
For Mathematicks only triumph there.
And those, experienc'd in its culture, say,
'Tis poison'd by the weeds of Algebra.
Much less where costive loam or clay abounds,
Fancy selects such soil for burying-grounds.
The superstitious soil is far too hot,
And in free-thinking fields they always rot.
Nor barren earths, for they, 'tis said, best suit
The kindred nature of the Hebrew Root.
But we have seen the Hebrew root delight,
Where taste was once secur'd by patent-right;
Where manners gentle found a temper sweet;
And Genius came the Sciences to meet ;
Where truth and nature held so large a share,
There seem'd no room for affectation there :
A kind of trans-atlantick Babylon,
Where virtue with meridian lustre shone,
And confidence, before 'twas woo'd, was won.
TASTE loves to climb near some tall mountain's side,
And catch the gales from time's eternal tide;
Spreads its wide arms, and like the tow'ring vine,
Around the judgment and the fancy twine;
But chiefly where the suns of genius smile,
And education cultivates the soil.

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And hinted some improvements on the next.

Then, sacred POEST, thy wings sublime
Were bound forever in the chains of rhyme;
80 Thy lyre, that oft awoke the mighty song,
E'en Jove himself descended to prolong,
Struck by each vulgar and each venal hand,
No more the warring passions could command.
Then he of all the train was held the best,
Whose wanton fury could exceed the rest.
Lo thy chaste daughters e'en their looms forego,
A conscious power, and happier skill to show.
With such bewitching smiles they sue for fame,
Who can deny the merit of such claim?

Nature may give, but Art must care bestow,
For TASTE from nature and from art must grow.

90

Like Sparta's dames, beside their conquering arms,
They find as sure a triumph in their charms.
The critick stands more easily beguil¿,

Than Casar's wrath when Cleopatra smil'd.

150

161

Is it in judgment, or in genius plac'd ?

Or in that motley faculty, call'd TASTE?

What then is TASTE ?—that taste, which most profess, Yet oft mechanick Dulness finds a way

What all pretend to, and what few possess?
E'en from the mightiest monarch of the globe,
To him who holds that mighty monarch's robe,
Not one is tasteless in the lengthen'd line;
"Tis yours, 'tis his, 'tis theirs, and it is mine.
Ere one brief hour can make its swift escape,
It comes in every" questionable shape."
More chaste than Dian, filthier than the Hags,
Viewless in lace, or visible in rags ;

20

"Tis seen, and heard, and felt throughout the town,
Brocade and ruffles, cap and bells, and gown ;
The smooth-faced belle, the channel-fronted seer,
The standing butt, or going auctioneer;
In many a simple speech, or simpler lay,
In many a farce, and many a German play;
In fables, sermons, songs, or single words,
Letter'd, unletter'd, stitch'd, or bound in boards;
From dust-crown'd authors, volum’d to the wall,
Down to the worm, the critick of them all;
Priest, poet, fiddler, chymist, or what not;
Doctor, apothecary, gallipot.

Yet still, though ever prone to disagree,
Changeful and various as it seems to be,

Where Genius never ventur'd to essay,
And, by the power to dulness only known,
Becomes illustrious in sinking down.

In golden ages, when the Gods were seen
With mortals mingled on Arcadia's green;
When life seem'd crown'd with ever-during spring,
And time stood still to hear the Muses sing:
There liv'd a Genius, fair as she was chaste,
By Gods call'd JUDGMENT, and by men call'd TASTE ;
Like Heaven's aërial ministers of grace,
100
Her form was fairer than the eye could trace ;
Her robe, though studiously arrang'd to please,
Fell with the graceful negligence of ease;
And in the lambent lustre of her mien,
30 Her lofty power and origin were seen.

'Twas her's to lead the infant arts along,
To wake the lyre, and modulate the song ;
The dance to guide, the nobler game to teach,
And give to action half the power of speech.
E'en high-born GENIUS Own'd her gentle sway,
And LEARNING follow'd where she led the way.
But when Luxuriance as REFINEMENT came,
And Innovation took IMPROVEMENT's name;

110

stu.

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DEVOTED TO POLITICKS AND BELLES LETTRES.

VOL. I.

POLITICAL. ·

FOR THE BOSTON SPECTATOR.

NO. VII.

THE INTEGRITY OF THE UNITED STATES
MUST BE PRESERVED.

EXTRACTS CONTINUED.

Shewing the comparative strength, resources, and local advantages of the different sections of the Union.

"THE cause however, which most strongly discriminates the southern from the northern states, is negro slavery. On this subject, Virginia, from her local situation and great number of slaves, has been able to render her southern and western neighbours subservient to her particular policy.

Of 367,000 slaves, free negroes, and mulattoes in Virginia, 341,000 live east of the Blue Ridge, a number somewhat exceeding the white population. In much the greatest part of the eastern district, little or no field labour is performed by white men; and it is certain that all the slaves are owned by 25,000, or by one half of the white families. The owners of slaves, with exceptions too inconsiderable to produce any political effect, are the proprietors of all the lands; and freeholders are the only electors in Virginia.

T

BOSTON, SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1814.

slaves and the poor enjoy no political influ-
ence; their mutual antipathies and resent-
ments are indeed cherished and perpetuated
for an obvious reason, but in the conception of
a Virginian, it is merely the object of liberty,
to secure independence to the planters; of
equality, that Palatines may know no superior.
An extraordinary wealth is never, in aristo-
cratical governments, connected with a propor-
tionate influence in the community; this
wealth, for want of other opportunities, is most
commonly displayed by the Virginians, in per-
sonal luxury. A few distinguished examples
of luxury are sufficient to mislead great num-
bers. Heavy debts and frequent bankruptcies
are both causes and effects of extortion, gam-
ing, and irregular speculations: sagacious
monied men derive profit and acquire odium
from the misfortunes of the aristocracy; hence
a general antipathy against the commercial
system and character.

NO. XV.

population of Maryland has somewhat diminished, during ten years of great prosperity to the nation. It is, indeed, reasonable to suppose, that plentiful crops and good markets must naturally induce the planters to increase their stocks of slaves, by selling fewer to the inhabitants of the new countries; and thereby, instead of meliorating, to render the condition of the poor still more unfortunate. Facts appear to support this hypothesis; for while, in the five southern states, the whites on a population of 1,133,000, have increased only 242,000, the slaves, free negroes, and mulattoes have, on a stock of 660,000, increased no less than 185,000, or in the ratio of 100 to 76 in favour of the latter. As the number of slaves imported from Africa has been inconsiderable, this result, however affecting to humanity in one point of view, is consoling in another, as it proves that the treatment of the slaves has, when compared with the rigour, which custom has sanctioned in some other countries, been mild and beneficent.

The very unequal division of property, and the want of a middling class of people, who might serve for farmers and tenants, compels It is not difficult to infer from this state of the wealthy proprietors to commit the man- things that arts and manufactures cannot flouragement of their estates to hired overseers. ish in Virginia, and the other southern states, That mode of cultivation is, of course, prefer- without a radical change in the state of sociered, which will produce a certain revenue, ty, which is not to be expected. The revenue least exposed to fraud and embezzlement. of these states must be derived from lands and The quantity of grain or tobacco, which a giv- slaves, and the government must be an unreen number of labourers can produce, may be strained aristocracy founded on property. easily estimated. If this quantity is produced, The policy of Virginia, though highly inju without impairing the stock of slaves, the own-rious to the rational interests, is not unnatural er may justly conclude, that his overseer has to men placed in their situation. A much conducted with ordinary fidelity. The man- greater proportion of the produce of their

These facts may be demonstrated by authentick documents, and that this state of things will be permanent is highly probable. Where labour is generally performed by slaves, few persons will own lands, who are not also own-agement of a small New England farm re-lands is, and must be, exported to foreign coun

ers of slaves, and the poor must be unable to own either. The state of society in the eastern district, or governing part of Virginia, may therefore be thus described without any essential errour. Twenty-five thousand families own all the lands, and the slaves; and an equal number of families is destitute of both, and possess no political influence in the state. Where slavery is tolerated, the labour of slaves will be preferred to that of freemen, as they are more obedient, and their subsistence cheaper. The consequence is, that property is necessarily connected with political power, and poverty with real degradation. Happily in these states, where the employers and employed are mutually obliged and mutually dependent, and where a spirit of moderation and justice are supported by common necessities and obligations, we are unable to form a conception of the wretchedness and ignorance, which degrade a part, and the pride, jealousy, and fear, which agitate a whole community, where the extremes of riches and poverty, of liberty and slavery are exhibited in perpetual contrast. A consequence of slavery is the accumulation of property in very unequal masses, and this inequality is the immediate cause of several important political effects.

The body of proprietors being, in respect to the rest of the community, a privileged aristocratical class, are, by the law of their nature, jealous of such of their own order as happen to be distinguished for wealth, talents, or reputation. It is this jealousy and envy among the proprictors, which has been mistaken for the genuine spirit of liberty, in Virginia. The

quires an attention to cultivating and securing tries, than from states where arts and manu-
grass, the feeding of cattle and sheep, the pro- factures are established, and where industry is
duce of a dairy and of orchards, besides small diversified. The freedom of the sea from eve-
crops of rye, corn, oats, flax, &c. The object ry kind of regulation, which can possibly in-
of the system is such a distribution of employ- crease the profits of commerce, is a darling
ments as will most usefully occupy a single policy. As from the nature of their coast, and
family during the year. The skill, minute at the state of their population, they are incapa-
tention, and economy, requisite to success, is ble of maritime exertion, they attempt to ac-
above the capacity of slaves. If the case were complish, merely by conventions and legisla
otherwise, the result would only be the pro- tive acts the acknowledgment of rights which
duction of a great number of articles in small other states would assert by force. Hence a
quantities, for which there would be no mar- settled antipathy to the maritime rights of bel-
ket, and, of course, no revenue to the proprie-ligerent nations, and to those measures of the
tor. Thus, though many of the mansions of federalists, which encourage the increase of
the opulent are surrounded with elegant and American navigation.
extensive gardens and improvements, which
create an imposing idea of a high state of im-
provement and cultivation, yet a vast propor-
tion of the lands are exhausted by repeated
crops of grain and tobacco, until being render
ed absolutely sterile, they are abandoned as
old fields, and added to the mass of surrounding
desarts. This mode of cultivation will account
for the rapid progress of the southern people,
and their imperfect, scattered settlements, in
the extensive regions they inhabit.

In Virginia, the wages of labour are regula-
ted by the cost and expenses of supporting
slaves; these wages are, consequently, the
lowest possible. Slaves are, of course, the
successful rivals of the poor, in all common
employments, who are compelled to lead lives
of wretchedness, or to emigrate to new coun-
tries. It is a remarkable fact, and probably
owing to this cause, that with the excep ion of
the city and county of Baltimore, the white,

Excepting in the colonies planted by Europeans in America, I know of no country, where slaves have been numerous, in which the governing order was not distinguished by a martial spirit. Common sense and prudence dictate that the masters of slaves ought to be heroes: a horrour of military establishments is, however, a characteristick of Virginians, and this proceeds from a consciousness of their own imbecility. They know that the rich and luxurious will never appear in arms, except occasionally, in opposition to the slaves, and they believe that the poor, if once armed, embodied and animated with a military spirit, would not willingly return to their present state of degradation, and might become masters of the state. The extent and inconsiderable resources of the country afford a tolerable security against invasion and conquest, by any foreign nation. National power and glory have no charms for a people, who can fush

Will any man pretend, that Louis XVIII. or pable and undeserving of any other govern-. the Duc d'Angoulême possess the talents,ambi-ment. tion, restlessness, and hardihood of Bonaparte?

nor direct the force, by which they must be obtained. The slaves and the neighbouring states are alone dreaded ;-the first are kept in awe by summary executions, and by selling We admit that, even under Bonaparte, the turbulent, or, in other words, the most in- France could not for many years become dantelligent, to new and distant settlements. I gerous to surrounding states; but we also bewill not say that the zeal, with which the Vir-lieve, that a man, nurtured amidst civil wars, ginians have long opposed the importation of bred up in fields of carnage, hardened to huslaves from Africa, has not originated in hu- man woes, stimulated by revenge, thirsting for manity and a love of justice; it is, however, power disgracefully lost, a soldier of fortune, a certain, that it is combined with a policy, which monarch by usurpation, would do every thing enables them to diminish the risks of insurrec-in his power to disturb the repose of Europe tions, and to derive a considerable profit from and the world. the issue of those already enslaved. This profit results to the planters; whereas that on imported slaves would belong to merchants.”

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On the other hand, a feeble monarch, taught moderation in the best school, that of adversity, restored, after all hope was extinguished, to the throne of his ancestors,-would be led, from interest alone not only to consult the happiness of his own subjects, but the quiet of Europe.

Gratitude to the monarchs, who had restored

In our past speculations on the affairs of hin-the dreadful lesson, which the fate of his Europe, we were unable to anticipate so happredecessor would have taught him-his natpy an event as the restoration of this injuredural ease and ignorance of affairs, would give family to the throne of France.

Recent events have rendered this unexpect ed change in the affairs of Europe not only possible, but probable. If we had entertained any doubts as to the importance of this restoration for the peace and quiet of all the world, we should have been convinced of the necessity of it by the language of our cabinet. Now, for the first time, they come out, and disclaim any wish to see France the mistress of Europe, although all their measures have contributed as much, as those of any nation on carth, to bring about such a catastrophe. Yet, disClaiming any regard for France, they distinctly avow that they view with horror the language of Factious papers in our country, which welcome the restoration of the Bourbons to their just and lawful rights.

It is for us to consider on what principles such an opposition to the restoration of the Bourbons can be founded; premising, howev er, that we have as many fears, as hopes, that this consummation of the struggle for national independence may not be accomplished.

both his subjects and the world a sure pledge of at least twenty years' quiet. Is there a man, except a monster of ambition, who will deny, that the world needs this rest? Is there a man, not in the pay of the usurper, who will pretend that Europe would be more safe under Bonaparte, the Septembrizer, the murderer of the Parisians at St. Roch, of the Turks at Jaffa, the man, who has planted his standard at Vienna, at Moskow, at Rome, and at Berlin,and who has much more than planted his standard at Washington, has made it grow there,

than under the feeble descendants of St. Louis? If, therefore, we are sincere in our wish for universal and stable peace, we must prefer the Bourbons, who have no dangerous talents, to a man, who has proved that he has them to a degree very alarming for the repose of the world.

Such ought to be the feelings of every American. It is not a question of the divine right of kings. It is not a question, whether the Bourbons have more right to the crown, than this infamous Corsican usurper; but, for an independent nation, whether the peace of the world will not be more secure under a Bourbon, than a Bonaparte. weThis, however, is the feeblest view of this question.

In order that we may not be misunderstood, we think it proper explicitly to declare, that we consider, that, as a republican people, we have no direct interest or wish, that the European governments should maintain their monarchical forms, other than what arises from a full conviction that, upon the continent of Eu. rope it is impossible, and of course inexpedient, to attempt to establish a free form of gov.

ernment.

The question as it respects France is reduced simply to this, whether there shall be at the head of that government an arbitrary, military, ambitious chief, bred up in revolutions, daring, unprincipled, skilful, and bent, as we know, on the subjugation of other nations; or a monarch schooled in adversity, restored by the suffrages of his subjects, without eminent talents, and, as far as we know, unambitious.

We agree with the American Government, that it is best France should not be the mistress of Europe: we agree also that it is best she should not be crushed: we should lament the day, and the policy, in which or by which such a misfortune to the civilized world should take place.

If they are sincere in their professions, we are, for once at least, agreed with them in opinion.

The only remaining question is, under which dynasty, (for the most hardened wretch living would not wish for the return of the horrors of the French revolution) it is most probable that the tranquillity and security of Europe would

be best maintained?

us, as

From the year 1793, the foundations of civil society have been shaken. Revolutions and scenes, such as never the world saw, have taken place in sad funereal succession.

Whatever might have been the early opinion, as to the ultimate effect of such revolutions in favour of the freedom and happiness of mankind; there lives not the wretch, we would hope, who will deny, that the mass of human misery, produced by this struggle, has been infinitely increased.

This is not all. It has resulted in a perfect conviction, that, when the struggle terminated in the dynasty of Bonaparte, no nation, or peo ple, or individual man, save the usurper himself, had more freedom, or half so much as before. Even America became enslaved, though she did not receive prefects openly.

The message of the President in taking off the embargo admits, that a valuable and interesting trade is now opened by the victories of Britain and the allies over France. Even our

rights and interests, he says, are so promoted by his downfal, that he abandons his favourite

measure.

If, then, so great a good has resulted from his downfal, ought we not to wish his complete defeat and destruction? Let the French people enjoy their ancient rights and their ancient monarchy, since we know they are inca

We would add the great leading sentiment of our hearts, in which all honest and intelligent men we hope will join.

As the world has been oppressed beyond all measure, let its emancipation be signal, be complete. Let it be such an one as may teach future tyrants, and future usurpers, that, however they may triumph for a time, however they may bathe themselves in the blood, and riot on the treasure of the wretched people of the world, there is a just God, who in due time, when it suits the purposes of his wise Providence, can humble the proudest usurper, and restore the broken reed. A Friend to General Freedom.

GENERAL REGISTER. BOSTON, SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1814.; EUROPEAN. Nothing further, from the scene of war.

An arrival from Spain, Feb. 18th, brings a decree of the Cortes,in which they declare that Ferdinand VII. shall not be considered as free, in any publick act, until he shall have taken the constitutional oath, in the body of the National Congress. No foreigner, not even a domestick is permitted to enter Spain in his retinue. He is to be officially informed of the state of the kingdom, of the sacrifices which take the oath, or not, at his choice, when he have been made, and to be left at liberty to shall have reflected on the conditions. From appearances, there is little reason to apprehend the revival of French influence among the Spaniards.

London papers to Feb. 12th by Halifax represent the battle in France of Jan. 21, in different light, from the French accounts, we had already received. They state that the allies were decidedly victorious, and that the French sustained a great loss.

DOMESTICK. Election of Governour, Lieutenant Governour and Senators took place in this state last Monday. The result is honourable to the state. It was not a competition

between a federalist and a democrat, but between those who approved genuine unalloyed federalism, and those who approved a federalism willing to pass under the yoke of oppression. Mr. Dexter's stands better by 1623 votes, in 229 towns, than Mr. Varnum's last year.

The Constitution frigate, Capt. Stewart, was welcomed safe in Salem harbour last Sunday, on her return from a cruise to and off South America. She was chased in by two frigates, and being considered exposed, on the first report, the New England Guards immediately left this town, for Salem, and had proceeded to Chelsea, where they were assured of her security.

Our southern democrats having found that their dear embargo system was proving their own destruction, have caused their instrument, the President, to communicate the following humiliating Message, to Congress. A day or two more, wil! probably bring the repeal of the Embargo.

To the Senate, and House of Representatives of the U. States.

Taking into view the mutual interest which the United States and the foreign nations in amity with them, have in a liberal commercial intercourse, and the extensive changes favourable thereto, which have recently taken place: taking into view also the important advantages which may otherwise result from adapting the

state of our commercial laws to the circum-said: "You see those mountains, those rocks, stances now existing :

I recommend to the consideration of Congress the expediency of authorising, after a certain day, exportations, specie excepted, from the United States, in vessels of the United States, and in vessels owned and navigated by the subjects of powers at peace with them; and a repeal of so much of our laws as prohibits the importation of articles not the property of enemies, but produced or manufactured only within their dominions.

I recommend also, as a more effectual safeguard and encouragement to our growing manufactures, that the additional duties on Imports which are to expire at the end of one year after a peace with Great-Britain, be prolonged to the end of two years after that event; and that, in favour of our monied institutions, the exportation of specie be prohibited throughout the same period. JAMES MADISON. March, 31st, 1814.

It is reported and believed that a detachment of Gen. Wilkinson's army has been defeated, between Missiquoi bay and the Stone Mills.

THE Poem on "Taste," concluded in this number, was written by a gentleman, at the request of the Phi Bet Kappa society, for their Anniversary; but before the time, when it was to have been delivered, the author was compelled to go abroad for his health. He returned to this country, but died before the next commencement.

LITERARY AND MISCELLANEOUS.

TRANSLATED FOR THE BOSTON SPECTATOR.

ON EPICK POETRY. (Continued.) TASSO, who, of all the epick poets, has approached the nearest to Homer by the management of his plan, and the inspiring grandeur of his characters, did not neglect to flatter the vanity of his countrymen, not only by mentioning the founders of the most illustrious families of Italy, but by using throughout his poem the machinery of fairy beings, and adopting those chivalrick notions which then prevailed in this country.

Besides, his descriptions of the crusades must have particularly interested the Italians, who possessed, in their capital, the supreme head of the church.

MILTON is not à national poet; he is the poet of the christian world. His pious muse seems to have planted, in the garden of Eden, that celestial tree, whose branches extend over the whole world. The first adoration addressed to the Supreme Being; the first transgression of the divine law; the first punishment; primitive innocence lost; mankind denounced; the grand perspective of future redemption; whatever man enjoys of hope, or experiences of fear; crimes and virtues; happiness and misery, in the present life or hereafter; the uninterrupted intercourse between earth and heaven-such is the sublime subject of Milton, and what author can be compared to him!

A quality not less indispensable in the Epick is variety. The reason of this is obvious. The action, which is the source of interest and curiosity, being distributed through the poem at considerable intervals is not so attractive, as in a tragedy, where it is limited to a short space, and hurries on with rapidity to the close. This is an inconvenience to be obviated in the Epick by an immense variety of objects, scenes, personages, which may amuse the attention and excite curiosity. It is said that Tasso, travelling with one of his friends, and arriving to the summit of a lofty mountain, which afforded him the prospect of a vast extent of country,

those wild forests, those cultivated and fertile
vallies, those beautiful pastures, those foaming
cascades, that majestick river, those clear riv-
ulets, that assemblage of rich and varied per-
spective?-There is my poem."

does not leave his repose but to avenge Patroclus, overcome Hector, and drag his body round the walls of Troy. Thus the reader enjoys, at once, whatever there is grateful in the imposing intervention of the gods, and whatever there is interesting in the emotions of an ardent and impassioned soul.

FRENCHMEN-FROGS.

I HAVE always supposed Frenchmen were nicknamed Crapauds (Frogs) because it is notorious they are fond of eating them but this is a mistake.

The name originated, I find, in the old national arms of France, whose armorial bearings were three of these creatures, instead of the three flowers de luce, which were adopted in more modern times, and continued till the late revolution.

A difficulty still remains-for what reason did the monarch of this accomplished nation ever choose such a disgusting reptile for so distinguished an honour?

The Henriade, too much admired on its first appearance, and now too much decried, wants the charm of variety. It is easy to discover that when VOLTAIRE produced this work, he was little acquainted with books. Paris and the court, morals, philosophy, and politicks, are the objects which appear again and again in All nature is found in the great his poem. epick poems. The poetry of Homer, Virgil, Milton, and even of Tasso was fertilized by long voyages, and a great variety of scenery. Owing to the natural inconstancy of the human heart, it does not delight to repose long on the same subjects. A description of the country and rural occupations must necessarily be succeeded by the tempests of the soul, and the shock of nations. Anxiety and agitation require relief, in ideas more innocent and calm. It is amidst the charms of the terrestrial paradise, the angel Raphael relates to the first of the human race the mighty discords which prevailed in heaven-the tremendous combats of the good and evil angels. It is in the midst of the description of battles that Herminia is borne away, by her horse, to a champaign surrounded by cottages, where she lends a willing ear to the rustick pipe. It is from the scene of bloody combats, that Jupiter It is said, that a gentleman, who is "not a withdraws his attention, to view, with complacency, the gentle and hospitable manners of candidate for any office," some years ago, an Ethiopian tribe, solely occupied with the while attending Court at Concord, took a solicares of the cultivator and shepherd. In Vir-tary walk through the mud to visit the bridge, gil, the description of battles is preceded by which was the scene of the skirmish with the a picture of the pastoral life of good king British, in that town; but did not discover that he had visited the wrong bridge, till after he had Evander. Except the interview between the old man of Jersey and Henry IV., in the first expatiated pretty largely upon the impression which the spot made on his mind, and the asbook of the Henriade, nothing of this kind is found in the whole poem. tonishing effects of the association of ideas. When he was told of his mistake, he very dexterously parried the laugh by relating the following anecdote, which his present predicament may have recalled to his mind

On the Marvellous.

I am far from thinking, with Marmontel, that the marvellous is not essential to epick poetry. It is that which places, at the disposal of the poet all places-all events-men of every description-heaven, earth, and hell. That alone can supply the necessity we feel, for something extraordinary; that alone, at the will of the poet, can retard, hasten, or prolong the epick action; and whatever an enthusiastick admirer of Lucan may have said, the Catos, Cæsars, Pompeys, all the heroes of ancient and modern history, are no substitutes for the intervention of divinity. Without this relation of protection on one part and obedience on the other, there is no other, between heaven and earth, but the laws of gravity and motion; every thing comes within the order of common and ordinary events, which soon palls upon the imagination.

The only inconvenience that can arise from the adoption of the marvellous would be, that men, being subordinate to celestial powers, should appear but instruments and machines. The poet should therefore guard against exhibiting the inclinations and passions of his heroes, the fruitful source of interest, as absolutely controled by a supreme power; for then all interest is destroyed, or strikingly diminished. When Homer represents Achilles, provoked by the supercilious Agamemnon, as putting his hand upon his sword, he represents to us the Goddess of Wisdom restraining the hero ; but soon afterwards be restores this feeling, ingenuous soul to all its natural irritability. The implacable Achilles retires to his tent, deprives the army of his presence, and

WHICH of the three learned professions is the oldest? Undoubtedly the Priesthood-the Lawyers second, and last, Physicians. When men began to practise physick is not known: the earliest mention of a physician, I believe, is by Job.

"I THOUGHT 'TWAS THE PEOPLE, BUT 'TWAS ONLY THE FOLKS." Nem.

When new-light Whitfield used to preach
In barn or barn-yard, just as suited,
Made young maids cry and old ones screech,
And naughty boys look'd on and hooted;
It chanced one day another fellow
Was holding forth in Whitfield's stead;
A negro passing heard him bellow,
And call'd to hear what Whitfield said.
By Cuffee every word was swallow'd,
And every gesture touch'd his heart,
And straightway on the ground he wallow'd,
Esaying well to act his part.
Learning at length his sad mistake-
Standing up straight, bis wool-head tossing,
Cuffee sung out, “ Why massy sake!
Den dirt myself for nossing!"

-

LE REVEUR, No. II. "THERE is something superior to all opinions-that is justice. If a philosopher of the present day were to write a good book; if he were to do what is still better, to perform a good action; if he displayed noble and elevated sentiments, I, who am a christian, would I would go to applaud him without reserve. the end of the world in quest of a virtue, in a votary of Vishnow, or the Grand Lama, that I might enjoy the happiness of admiring it."*

What, such sentiment, such liberality in a Roman Catholick, a zealous Roman Catholick! How much we are abused by the prejudices of education! This shall teach me the folly of imputing to any class of christians

* Chateaubriand.

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