HERE fond remembrance stampt her much lov'd names,
Here boasts the soil its _London_ and its _Thames_;
Throughout her shores commodious ports abound,
Clear flow the waters of the varying ground;
Cold nipping winds a lengthen'd winter bring,
Late rise the products of the tardy spring.
The broken soil a labouring race requires;
Each barren hill its generous crops admires,
Where nature meanly did her gifts impart,
Yet, smiling, owns how much she owes to art.
But keen as winds that guide the wintry reign,
All bow to lucre, all are bent on gain;
As chance decreed, their various lots are thrown;
Its house each acre, every mile its town;
With gilded spire the frequent church is seen,
Sacred to him that taught them to be keen;
Eternal squabblings grease the lawyer's paw,
All have their suits, and all have studied law;
With tongue that art and nature taught to speak,
Some rave in Latin, some dispute in Greek;
Proud of their books, in ancient lore they shine,
And one month's study makes a learn'd divine;
Fond to converse, with deep designing views,
They pump the travelling stranger of his news;
Fond of his wit, but fonder to be paid,
Each house a tavern, claims a tavern's trade;
While he that comes, as surely hears them praise
The hospitality of modern days.
Yet brave in arms, of enterprising soul,
They tempt old Neptune to the farthest pole;
In learning's walks explore the mazy way
(For genius here has shed his golden ray);
In war's bold arts thro' various contests try'd,
True to themselves, they took their country's side,
And, party feuds dismiss'd, join to agree
That scepter only just that left them free.
_Connecticut Courant,_ July 14, 1790.
* * * * *
Errors of the press.
The following paragraphs will shew how completely the sense
is altered by the omission of a single letter of the word in
Italics.
"The conflict was dreadful, and the enemy was repulsed with
considerable _laughter_."
"Robert Jones was yesterday brought before the sitting
Magistrate, on a charge of having spoken _reason_ at the
Barleymow public-house."
"In consequence of the numerous accidents occasioned by
skaiting on the Serpentine River, measures are taking to put
a _top_ to it."
"When Miss Leserve, late of Covent Garden Theatre, visited
the 'Hecla,' she was politely drawn up the ship's side by
means of a _hair_."
"At the Guildhall dinner, none of the poultry was eatable
except the _owls_."
"A gentleman was yesterday brought up to answer a charge of
having _eaten_ a hackney-coachman for having demanded more
than his fare; and another was accused of having stolen a
small _ox_ out of the Bath mail; the stolen property was
found in his waistcoat pocket."
_Salem Register,_ 1827.
* * * * *
_A CURIOSITY._
"We have often heard of the Lord's Prayer being written in
the compass of a shilling, but have lately seen a piece of
paper of that dimension, which contains, in manuscript, the
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, Psalms 117,
120, 127, 131, 132, 134, and 150; 9th chapter of Proverbs,
Prayer of St. Chrysostom, two Collects, Prayer for the
Royal Family, Nobility, Clergy, &c., &c., the Blessing, and
Junior, 1702, the name of the writer. This curiosity is in
the possession of Mr. John Reeder, of Brighton, who being an
auctioneer at a sale where it was lately sold, purchased it
on very easy terms. It is not legible without a good glass."
_Columbian Centinel,_ June 5, 1790. _Eng. pap._
* * * * *
In an old Salem paper we find the following:
--> We understand the number of deaths in this town the past
year was 234, of which 15 died abroad.
This reminds us of the curious jumble made in the first edition of
Morse's "American Gazetteer," published in Boston in 1797. In the
description of Albany, N.Y., it says: "This city and suburbs, by
enumeration in 1797, contained 1,263 buildings, of which 863 were
dwelling-houses and 6,021 inhabitants. Many of them are in the Gothic
style with the gable end to the street, which custom the first settlers
brought from Holland."
* * * * *
The earliest American writer of whom we have any information
was Peter Bulkley, who was born in England in 1583 and died
in 1659 in Massachusetts, and wrote Latin Poetry and
Sermons. The earliest poetic volume written in this country
was by Anne Bradstreet, of Boston, born 1612, died 1672.
_Salem Observer,_ 1834.
* * * * *
The author of these lines must have been one of the old school.
[_The following was paid for as an Advertisement._]
The folloing lines were Presented to A lat skull mistres in
this town by 4 of her skolers the morning after her mareg
MAY all Joiy and happiness Vait
To attend your nuptal stat
you our instructer and the Guid
of our early youth beside
as you Quit the plas
wich you fild with euery Gras.
Our Grateful Thanks are sure your due.
Except them thearfor from us fue.
Whos shur to you that pras is due.
Must euery sorro euery Cear be yourn
Forbid it Heauin and let it turn
to peas and Joiys next to diuin
Rise Glorious euery futer Sun
and Bless your days with Joiys as this has dun
let sorrows sese and Joiys tak plas
to briten euery futer day with equil Gras
and wen your cald from hence above
may you inioy your souors Loue
wee ever shall regrat our los
and yet with you wee all reioyss
_Essex Gazette,_ May 14, 1771.
* * * * *
Boston school-books in 1790.
The School Committee in Boston have ordered that the
following Books be used in the Reading Schools of that town,
viz.
The HOLY BIBLE;
WEBSTER's SPELLING-BOOK;
The Young Ladies' ACCIDENCE;
Webster's American SELECTION of Lessons in Reading and Speaking;
The CHILDREN'S FRIEND;
MORSE's GEOGRAPHY abridged; and
The NEWSPAPERS, occasionally.
_Salem Gazette._
* * * * *