preceding pages, an imaginary GIFFORD lashes MILTON for his careless
and ungrammatical style, his awkward ellipses, etc.; but even these
are turned to beauties in his hands. What could be more forcible
and striking than the last of the three following lines?--and yet
who but MILTON could brave such an indefensible ellipsis? It is not
unlike that sublime grammatical error, 'Angels and GOD is here!'
which few would venture to correct:
'Should God create another Eve,
And I another rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart.'
The following papers are either filed for insertion or under
consideration: the second and concluding part of the '_Innocent
Galley-Slave_;' 'Fiorello's Fiddlestick;' 'Thoughts on Immortality;'
'Letter from Boston;' 'Lines to Fanny;' 'The Doomed Ship;' 'On the
Death of a Class-mate;' 'A Fourth of July Excursion;' 'Chronicles
of the Past;' Lines by 'B. F. R.' 'Exercises of the Alumnæ of the
Albany Female Academy,' etc. 'The Floral Resurrection' shall take
place when 'the Spring-time o' the year is coming.' By a careless
oversight, the beautiful lines of our favorite IONE, although in
type, were excluded from the present number.
* * * * *
GILES'S ORATION BEFORE THE NATCHEZ FENCIBLES.--A thin, brief
pamphlet lies before us, containing an oration delivered at Natchez,
(Miss.,) on the fourth of July last, before the corps of the
'Natchez Invincibles' and other citizens, by WILLIAM MASON GILES,
Esq. We regard it with favor and with dislike. Its _spirit_ is truly
_American_, patriotic, in all respects unexceptionable, and most
honorable to the writer. Its _style_, however, is not creditable to
the writer's taste: it is in many parts of the oration stilted and
inflated. There is a lack of care and revision also; but this may
be attributed to the great haste and bodily disability which we are
informed attended its production, and which indeed we cannot doubt;
since in the brief letter which announces the yielding of the orator
to the solicitations of his friends, of a copy for publication,
there are at least two errors which would favor a verdict of damages
in an action for assault and battery upon old Priscian. We allude to
the substitution of 'will' for 'shall,' and _vice versa_. Speaking
of days sacred to Liberty, the Sabbath-days of Freedom, the orator
remarks: 'All nations, where freedom and knowledge have found an
asylum, have had such anniversaries; days when the strife and
bustle of business have ceased; when all cares being laid aside,
and every energy _concentered and tuned in unison to the jubilant
strain_ which should arise from hearts grateful to the past for
its valor and virtue, and, nerved for the future, prepared to
transmit to posterity the precious _casket_ of freedom unsullied
by any _cloud_ of dishonor, and unsoiled by any _losel_ whether
from domestic or foreign hands.' A style like this '_permeates_
the inmost recesses' of the realms of taste, Mr. GILES, 'allow us
to say.' A common error is here forcibly alluded to by the orator:
'We are apt to talk of our release from Great Britain on the fourth
of July, 1776, as a 'liberation from slavery.' We _never_ were in
slavery. As men, as Anglo-Saxons, as subjects of the British empire,
we, in this country, were always freemen, and never yielded our
birth-right; it was the attempt to curtail our rights, to interfere
with our domestic polity, and to check our career of greatness,
that led to the Declaration of Independence; but the eternal and
immutable truths of that sacred instrument were written upon our
hearts, were embodied in the colonial charters and institutions,
were the household words of the nation for generations before they
were penned by a committee of Congress. Every where, for a century
and more previous to the date of our Independence, in the primary
assemblies of the people, in the legislative halls, in judicial
tribunals, from the press, and by word of mouth, the colonists knew
and proclaimed their rights; and thus Great Britain came to believe
that we were determined on severing every tie which bound us to the
land from whence we came. Does this look like slavery?' We commend
this oration warmly to our readers, for its truly American tendency
and spirit.
* * * * *
'LIFE AND SPEECHES OF HENRY CLAY.'--Two _superb_ volumes thus
entitled, executed in a style of typographical neatness which
would be remarkable in any other press save that of the printer,
DICKINSON of Boston, have just been issued by Messrs. ROBERT P.
BIXBY AND COMPANY of this city. They reach us at a late hour;
leaving us only time and space to state, that here, in addition to
a copious biography, are gathered together a far larger and better
collection of Mr. CLAY'S public performances than has heretofore
been given to the public. The speeches, addresses, etc., amount
to eighty in number; and cover all the ground, and embrace all
the prominent events, of his public life. 'No labor,' says the
compiler, in an inflated and carelessly written preface, 'has been
spared in seeking for them; and it is believed that few if any
which have been reported will be found wanting in the collection.'
A brief but comprehensive memoir is prefixed to each, illustrative
of the subject and occasion on which it was delivered, and the
fate of the question. Mr. CLAY'S eloquence, however, is said to be
of that order, that no written or verbal report of his words can
do any justice to it. The ease of his delivery, the music of his
unsurpassed voice, and the 'grace beyond the reach of art' which
characterizes his carriage and gesture, are described as calculated
to win the applause of all who have ever had the good fortune
to hear him in public debate. We must not neglect to notice the
pictorial attractions of these volumes. They contain a full-length
portrait of Mr. CLAY; a view of his birth-place in Virginia; of his
present seat at Ashland, Kentucky; and of the fine monument erected
in his honor, near Wheeling, Virginia; the whole transferred to
steel from original paintings, by our excellent engraver, Mr. DICK.
The volumes are destined to a wide sale.
* * * * *
'THE BLAND PAPERS.'--We have received from the hands of Mr. H.
BARNUM, of Virginia, a copy of a handsome book, of some two hundred
and ninety pages, printed at Petersburg, Virginia, bearing the
title of 'The BLAND Papers; being a selection from the manuscripts
of THEODORICK BLAND, Jr., of Prince George county, Virginia. To
which are prefixed an Introduction, and a Memoir of Colonel BLAND.
Edited by CHARLES CAMPBELL.' The volumes before us contain a
great number of important manuscripts and letters connected with
our revolutionary struggle, written by persons of the highest
distinction, from General WASHINGTON downward, whose confidence
and friendship, we may add, Colonel BLAND had the happiness to
enjoy, without abatement or interruption, during his whole life. We
anticipate no small degree of pleasure from the perusal of these
rare and accidentally-discovered documents. The work is divided
into three parts, with an appendix. The three parts consist wholly
of letters; the appendix comprises not only letters but other
miscellaneous writings, such as military orders, congressional
papers, etc. The first part is composed of correspondence held
prior to the revolutionary war; the second part of correspondence
held during the war; and the third part of correspondence held
subsequently. The 'BLAND Papers' are on sale in this city at Messrs.
BARTLETT AND WELFORD'S, Number seven, Astor-House.
* * * * *
NEW POEM, BY ROBERT TYLER, ESQ.--The Brothers HARPER have published,
quite in a model style of drawing-paper and typography, a poem
by ROBERT TYLER, Esq., entitled '_Death, or Medorus' Dream_.' We
receive the volume at the moment of closing our pages, and have not
as yet found time to examine it with a leisurely eye. If we may
judge of its character, however, from the extract entitled 'Death,'
which appeared originally in these pages, and which was widely
copied and commended, we may safely predict that the poem will find
favor with the public, and add to the author's reputation. We shall
recur to the volume on another and more convenient occasion.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected
without note. Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have
been retained as printed.
Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where
the missing quote should be placed.
The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the
transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Page 230: "but gave her hand to John, then run to"--the transcriber
has changed "run" to "ran".