l.ONUON LMUCS.
7"ie Lees and the Laxcstms.
If \ou cull on the Lee^ north of Bloonisbury-
squ;xrc,
1 hoy welcoine yju blan'lly, they profTi.r a cbair,
Dccorously mild and well bred ;
T'ltent on their music, their bocks, or their pen,
■bimployincnt absorbs their attention, and me>i
Scenn totally out of their head.
tl you call on the I^awsons, in Bloomsbury-
placp,
Ko fabric of order you seem to dcface,
No sober an'ang'emcnt tn break ;
I’hey lounge on the sofa, their manners arc
odd,
Men drop in at hincheon, and give them a.nod,
Then run to the Sherry and cake.
rlie house of the Lees has an orderly air,
Jt sets to its brethren of brick, in the square,
A model from attic to basement;
't’he knocker is polish’d, the name is japann’d,
'I'lie step, unpolluted, is sprinkled with sand.
White blinds veil the drawing’-room casement.
'I he house of the Lawsons is tunte autre chosr.
It certainly proflers no air of repose,
For one of the girls always lingers
Athwart the veranda, alert as an ape
To note to her sisters the forthcoming gape,
13e it monkeys, or Savoyard singers.
'Whenever the Lees to the theatre stray,
The singers who sing, and the players who play,
Attentive, untalkative, find ’em :
With sound to allure tlvem, or sense to attract,
They rarely turn round, till the end of the act,
To t tlk with the party behind ’em.
The I.awsons are bent on a ditTer^'nt thing:
Miss T’at'iu may r. avble. Miss A\’cii iv.'Ay s’.ng,
o lis'oners tier above tier :
They hccd not song, chnractcr, pal'.o% nr plo*,
!ftut tuin the 11' heads buck, to converse a
knot
or Dandies ’.vho lounge in the rcir.
Vii life’s or.warJ path it has happen’d to rr.e
V. ith many a Lawson, and many a Lee,
In^)arties to mix and to mingle ;
And someho’v, in spite of manoeuvres and plans.
I've found that the Lees get united in banns,
While most of the Lawsons keep single.
Coy Hymen is like the black maker of rum—
•' De more masse call me de more 1 vont come,”
Me flies from the froward and bold :
He gives to the coy what he keeps from the
kind;
The maidens w'ho seek him, the maiclens who
find.
Are cast in an opposite mould.
The greatest freedom I know in being
thought a wit by the world is, that it
gives one the greater advantage of play
ing the fool.
^luny men have been capable of doitig
,1 wise thing, more a cunning thing, but
>ery few a generous thing.
2?ar(rt9.
Mixing together profit and delight.
[From Flint’s Valley of the Mississippi.]
nnother opening.
-TA %/Irkansas, its Grapes and Cypress
Swamps.
We continued to float on throup;li t'liis
deep and inundated forest, when at right
angles with our course we discovered
It was the Arkansas,
with a majestic current of
waters of the color of arnotto die.—
This is, next to the Missouri, the lar
gest and most interesting tributary of
Iht Mississippi, and from its inoulh by
its meanderh to the mountains, is com
monly comjHJted about 2000 miles.—
Its course has been traced in these moun
tains at least five hundKed miles, ami it
believed that the source of the Ar-
jvan^as has not yet been explored by our
]^eople. One si’.igularity distinguishes
ihis river from any oilier of the U. Slates.
AVhere it winds alon^ among the moun
tains, all agree that it is a bro:u! and deep
1 Ivcr, carrics a groat volimie of water.
JLJul 110 sooner does it emerge iVom the
shelter of u oods and mounlains into a
boundless and arid jjlain, tunij)o:ied to
a ”ieat dejjth of quicksauti", than it be
gins to disapfiear : and in a hundred
miles liorii iln; very elevated inouiitaiu,
neiir wljith it enUrs upim the ]>lain, il
ji Ibfdable during Um; .summei'. Still
lower (lusvn il i.s a stream, according to
tlie well IviKnvn jilirase of the cuunlry,
•‘sui;I: in iIk; sanJ that is, il trickles
jimidst li.t; banks of sand ;uil pebbles,
.■••0 as in in:nty places to rxliibil a diy j
Li.'. 1/1 ui pruiiiil^ , v OVCi ;:.g l..'J
Mipeilluous irrowth and folinge, inllict-
ing no wounds, and ailbrding a most ad
mirable method of i ij)ening the clusters '
in the highest perfection by the reilcc-
tion of the sun from the sand. In the
expedition of iMaj. Long, the extreme
sweetness of these grapes is recorded,
and other travellers have ijorne the same
testimony. They speak of vast tracts
rovered with these rich clusters. I shall
have occasion elsewhere to speak of
these classes of this naliv*> grape, which
are so much extolled in the internal
provinces of Spain. They are common
through the pine woods of Louisiana,
and known by the name of the pine
woods grape..
This grape ripens in .Tune. It would
probably be an admirable grape to cul
tivate. There are also varieties of au
tumnal grapes, and wonderful accoimts
arc given of the immense quantities of
grapes that ripen on the saml [>lains at
the sources of the Red river. The hunt
ers assert that they are rii her than any
cultivated grape.
At a distance of a mile or two from
the river, there are first thick cane
brakes, then a series of lakes, cxaclly
resembling the river in their points anti
bends, and in the color of their waters.
Tliese lakes are covered with the large
leaves, and in the j)roper season, the
flowers of the “ nymphea nelumbo,”
the largest and most splendid flower that
1 have ever .seen. 1 have seen them of
the size of the crown of a hat; the ex
ternal leaves of the most brilliant wliite
and the internal of a beautifid yellow.
These lakes arc so entirely covered with
the large conical leaves, nearly of the
size of a parasol, and a >unaller class of
aquatic plant, of the same form of leaves,
hut with a yellow lUnvrr, that a bird
might walk from shore to shore, with
out dijtping its feet in water ; and these
plants rise from all depths of water, up
to ten feet.
Beyond thp^o lakes there are immense
swamps of cypress, wliieh swamps con
stitute a vast portion of tlie inundated
lands of the Mississippi and its waters.
No prospect on earth can be more gloo
my. The pactic Styx or Acheron had
not a greater union of disnial circum
stances. AVell may the cypress have
been esteemed a funeral and lugubrious
tree. When the tree has shed its leaves,
for it is decitiuous, a cypress swamp,
with its countless interlaced branches,
of a hoary grey, has an aspect of deso
lation and death, th.at often as I have
been imprcjssed with it, I cannot de
scribe. In summer its tine, short, and
deep green leaves invest these hoary
branches with a drapery of crape. The
water in which they grow is a vast dead
level, two or three feet deep, still leav
ing the innumerable cyprcss knees as
they are called, resembling circular bee
hives, throwing their points above the
waters. This water is coverod with a
thick coat of green matter, resembling
green bulT velvet. The musquitoes
s^warm above the water in countless
millions. A very frequent adjunct to
this horrible scenery, is the moccason
snake with his huge scaly body lying in
folds upon the side of a cyjiress knee ;
and if you approach too near, lazy and
reckless as he is, he throw's the upper
jaw of his huge mouth almost back to
his neck, giving you ample warning of
his ability and will to defend himself,
i travelled forty miles along this river
swainj), and a considerable part of the
way in the edge of it ; in which the
horse sunk at every step half up to his
in (Irv and hiiiy wood>, lai from j was now verging toward December.—-
streams and - ^v .ters, it almost | My friend soon alter my arrival called
wholly disap:.'i:iri , it in the pine cordially, and the next evening, a darky
woods it reappL-arrs as you approach hot- thrust into my hand a carcT, directed in
toms, .stream.^, and swamps, I have re- a fine crow-quiii hand to ‘ Ichabod
marked too, tii'it where it so complete- Singleton, Ksq. ’' t!ic contents ot which
ly envelopes the cypress, as to show | were as follows:—
nothing but the festoons of the d.yk
grey moss, other trees arc wholly tree
from it. It seems less inclined to attach
itself to the cotton wood trees llian to
any other.
This moss is a plant of the parasitical
species, being propagated by seed, which
forms in a capsule that is preceded by a
very minute but beautiful purple flower.
Although when the trees that have cast
j their leaves are covered with it, they
j look as if they were dead, yet the moss
I will not live long on a dead tree. It is
well known that this mo> s, when man
aged by a process like that of preparing
hemp or flax, separates from its bark,
and the black fibre that remains is not
unlike horse hair, elastic, incorruptible,
and an admirable and cheap article for
inattiesses, of which are formed most of
the beds of tlie southern people of this
reiiion.
From the IJoston I.yeeiim.
A IJACHKLOU’S DISSIPATION.
I lo not deny that at sixteen I was a
poet, a fashionable, a belle scholar, an
adept in tlie solids of science’, anu wore
a tall plume among my compeers in the
literature of that day. Neither do I
positively contradict tliat, at the very
blushing of my power of hope, I was
goose enough to fall in love, was laugh-
t;d at, and resigned society and the hon
ors conseciuent upon a degree and a dis-
tinc;uished part in the ceremonies of a
commencement, for “Sylvan shades,”
and the solitudes of study. But the
“ whirling of Tinie’^ went round, and
the duties of a profession, pursued with
a single eye to fame, brought profession
al j)ractlce ; the w'orld of business was
opened to nie, and in the drudgery of
its details i lost sight, and even memo
ry, of the blissful bowers of the polite
world, whose sweets were once so en
chanting. Tw'enty years trudged along,
like horses in a bark mill, and twenty
additional years found me, something
like a bachelor ; for this term, added to
^VWWlVWWWVWVVVWfcVVX
J Miss iSiipliToiila Si/llabulji J
J AT UO.'JL—'VVednestliiy evening, ^
^ Feb.—ut 8 o’clock. J
^ VWIW\^
I rccognized the daughter of my
friend, in the address, but its singulari
ty brought out the ungallant phrase,
“'I'he d—1 she is.” My landUdy ex
plained, (as the blackamoor w’as olT in
an instant,) that it intended an invitation
to a dance, and nothing of doubtful mo
rality. Heavily passed the hour, till
the moment arrived which was to re
suscitate me as a fashionable. The in
termediate space was occupied by the
common avocations of existence, to
which was supei’added the amusement
of gazing from the window upon trav
ellers ?s they slipped, hobble(l or trip
ped along the tlironged streets. But
the all-in>portant hour approached, anti
S o’clock found me at my iViemi’s, who
ushered me into a brilliant lightt'd sa
loon, w'here were the young and fair,
impatiently v/aiting for the commence
ment of the dance. The half-suppres
sed flourish of the clarionet, and the
demi-semiquaver squeak of the fiddle,
proclaimed that all was on the eve of
readiness. When I entered, I felt the
lue weight of character appended to my
blue coat, long Marseilles vest, stooki-
nett pantaloons, pow’dered hair, and
black ribbon queue. The youngest
turned the bright eye of admiration to
wards me, and all smiled an overvvhelm-
ing welcome. Happy was I to see, that
twenty years had worn off the crust of
reserve in the fair sex, and that I was
to receive a portion of its benefits.
“Allow me,” quoth mine host, “to
introduce you, &c. ” This sounded ra
ther strange, but did not ap|)ear more
singular tlian that there had been a won
derful transformation in ,the ladies'
waists. I'ormerly, they lesembledthe
foretopsail of a man of war, clewed up
upon her arrival in port, but now they
had become transformed to hour glasses,
and each body was squeezed into two
A.mong the gentlemen
sixteen, (the age of my abjuration of the
lair,) serves to bring something like inverted cones,
crow’s feet around a bright eye, and transformations were apparent,
leads one to think with undue eompb-!unmentionable under dress of the
cency, upon the comforts of flannels, j was adopted for pantaloons, be-
and. the advantage of being unnoticed. I neath which sticks or legs might have
But my mentor, and 'i’abillia, who had ^^^n concealed—bob minor coat tails
regulated my whole domestic course, I in vogue, and when a gentlfman
from a sock to a shirt collar, told me m
Cassandric projthecy, that it was neces
sary to marry ; previous to which an
excursion among modern fashionables,
was a paramount duty, in order to make
a due selection. With something of a
cold chill, I consented ; which icy feel
ing w'as somewiiat soltened by a recol-
leclion of the pupj)y tvclusion, and this
contem[)lated /.’iclusion of a bachelor
tax, wnich lunig in fcrrorem over my
unyoked body. My wardrobe (the sin
ew of war in such cases) was inspected,
which was'found to have sufll'ered from
the inroad of mulhs. When I had, 20
years since, left the bowers of the fair,
I packed in an old chest, with due cau
tion, a superfine coat, stockings and pan
taloons, a thick substantial watch, with
its accompanying key of massy silver
v/orkmarjshi{), and on this grand occa
sion, when fashion was to play the ga
knees. 1 was enveloj)ed for the whole to age, that the defects of time
distance with a cloud of musquitoes.— I concealed by the curtain of
Like the ancient Avernus, I do not re- it was, of all things, essential
member to have seen a single bird in the
w’hole distance, except the blue jay.—
Nothing interrupted the deathlike si
lence, but the hum of musfjuitoes.
There cannot be well imagined anoth
that the “outward man” should be set
oil to the beat advantage..
I would here digress to describe my
coat. It was built in those days when
the coat describes the man, and ne\er
tr feature to the gloom of these vast and j ^ bridegroom survey with more de-
dismal forests, to finish this kind of. the charms of his lady lov«, than
landscape, mure in keejiing with thc'‘^‘‘* I contemjilato myself in the glass,
rest, than the long moss, or S])anish ' '
beard : anil this luneral ilra|)erv attach
es itselt t:j llie (■', ji' t.ss in prelei ence to bright yellow Inittoiis extending
any r -j-. ‘I'ne;* is not, t.hat 1 i Jver tiie shunldcrs like two epaiil(;tt(.'s,
kii'r.N, ;ii, c. L.l nature, which produ-1 claiming; acfjuaiiiiance with two on
nes a r of srjjulclual im.igcs i within kis>in' di:,taiice ; and
as the VM.w * i ine cvpress forests, "all plien the indelinite tail ajipeiided tluue-
shu|^_getl, daiJ^ and eiivelope'd in the jlioyal origin—oh! sir, a view
huiigitig festoons of iiios'i. if you would ;c(jmelin.:ss went to my heart, and
iiispii'. .il! ii:l.abitanl uC Ninv-lhiL’;l.iiul, i tlie recollection ot whilome victories in
|)osjess.\i of ihe ccsioinary j»urlion ofl^'’*- conquest, ^purred me on tu
wiili liie dei;iee ol' lionie-sick-i ;' hievenients. 1 could have made
I when first its budding In'aulies adoi iuu!
my youthful shoulders ; its rolling col-
vast
Hero on these
v.hioh wil! for ages be th(
neric.i, t!ie hoiiu* of t-livs
.liainud of burnitig sand iioin L.nik lo!iu.';s \vhlch woiiid stiike to tl.c heart, iblank veise to Diana herself—
h-iuk. transfer him instaiiliy from the lull and ! tender sayings came from their ceils of
dale, the bracing air and varied scenerv ' in which the'y had been long
of the'noiih, to ihe cypress swamps of | ‘‘‘Unured, and were ready to attack the
tiiC soulii, ?;.:;t are covered wiili the long i ^^'talice of female hearts ; twice ditl I
mu'S. ! tragically stride across the room heedless
'i'iiis c'.:j’io!is .'ippendage to tl.c trees is ' whose tail siiflered trom m\'
‘ anxiety to observe that of my coat, w liich
became horizontttl from jjai taking of my
s])eed and ecstacy.
But to return. ' I arrived at the me-
tropolxs^ and was seUhnvn at my fpmn-
d'sii hr.disJv’i' bhc wasfci-
s.u'.tiv jita.ii^,
Syrtes of A-
01(1 l»uf];ilot'S,
;ire the wild fields oftli.iM- !..;h na’ive
gr:q)CS, th;;t all t:a\’il'-r- in these le-
gitjiis have sjjoheii nl in sui'h terms oi j in si\ isible in tiie r\'press swamps at
admiraiion. '^I'hcy aic 'aid t.^ he coii;' ! ;tbout degi( :,'., and is seen thence to
eal ill shape, hut.'-, oi' a Iteautjful bhie, jtheguif. il is the constant accomjiani-
dnvii.g sands | ment of ti,e trees in deep bottoms and
I.
* d:i-:it’: n nl '■> f'l ^
.It triuisi>ai ent '1 iie
ij>e tuund tlie stem, that advances still ainjiy lands, and seenis to be_an in-
abuxc the iiand liiuj £and_p.tjfuiins dieal’. a ofhur.:;1^ty in
bowed to you, he resembled Taurus in
the Almanack, or a frozen pitch mop.
Young ladies wore caps, and older ones
went without; jirobably there had been
a fever amongst the younger class—but
I was so busy in peering into bright
eyes around me, and expending my stock
of small talk, that I did not materially
criticise the outward man or woman \vho
came in contact w’ith me.
Anon, the fiddle struck up, a signal
wasgiven and dancing commenced. My
friend urged me to join, which I declin
ed tdl my apologies would no longer be
received, and I was introduced to some
seven or eight ladies, who all were eith
er engaged or had the headache, and I
then thought, that I was fairly excused;
but my friend introduced me at last to a
jolly, roguish eyed girl, who consented,
with almost an eager readiness. I
made her a bow of ninety degrees,
which rather incommoded my nearest
neighbor, (it was what they called a jam)
and W'as leading hei- to take a iilac'e for
a contra-daiiee, when she informed me
that a cotillion was the figure ; and sure
enough there we were, eight of us in
a circle like a boxing-ring. 1 apologis
ed h)r not understanding any thing aljout
this mana;uvre, hut she assured me that
the negro ritldler wouhl tell us all about
it, and 1 consented to run the guantlet
of trial. ‘We were stationed at the bot
tom of the octagon, when the negro
hauled out, “forward anti hncl; too.”
How is that possible, tliouglit 1 But a
young n\ mph carnij sliiling, ii ontin^^ and
bweejiing uj> to me, in a most conde
scending manlier, wherefore 1 could do
no loss than to make her one of my pret
tiest hows. “ Ojtpusite gentleman the
same,” (juoth Culf. At this, my part-
tier told nu^ I liuist dance ; w hereujion,
nothing loath, I commenced a double
sluiflle on my post, which I defy' any
man of my age to excel. I aiwav's
prided myself on my activity in this
particular, and had just commenced the
operation with my' eyes to the ceiling,
when I felt my feet entangleil, and
looking down, found I hatl disarrayed
my partner of lots of roses, and two
yards of flounces or flummediddlis,
wl'iich skirted the hnver part of hei
dress. On this, I turned swiftly to a-
p(dogize, and the sujierfluily of t^at
iWUHLj l!i Oppeiil'j di-I'Cijliijii lik';' the
MiUjipCi' Ui a Vt ii 1 J/' 111V.c v.iy .in,o I he eye ^
of a ctiild of my friend's wife. 1
scarcely anticijiated a woril of apoloo-y
in iVont, before the cry'of distress artrse
in the rear, and turning rapidly, aoaln,
to ascertain the cause of outcry, and
finding that the diabolical flounces and
my legs w’cre again in chancery, 1
ed head-foremost into the hread-baskci
of a sputtering Frenchman; and he,
myself, am! those old boon companions'
ti:e sliovci and tongs, to say nothing ot
the iirc-fender, were packed like a bai'
rel of herrings in the chimney-corner
The Fi-enchman laid hold of my qucu'.
to assist him in rising and before I had
fairly goi the better of my neighborlv
grievances, and regained a perpendicu
lar, he began a mongrel dialect of swear
ing and vituperancu at and concernii);-
my coat, “rnit de tail, and le bare, wliL
no comprehendre le cotiliio;;.'’ I ^bus-
ed him in good set French, and threat
ened to puke him up the.chimney fo-
laying profane hands ujjun my queue,
apologized to my fair partner for the
discomfiture of the flounce, kissed ti,i-
chilli, wiped my (former) white vest,
which had suftered from an intiinacv
with the superincumbent tongs, aiiii
forswore dancing. It would have driv
en Socrates made to have witnessed iho
half-concealed grins and titillations of
mirth whi:h had bes’ct the whole prc«-
ent community cf human bipeds. My
friend, by way of corn.‘'ort, look me a-
side and auvised me to throw aside my
idolized coat, abjure queue and powder,
and go to a tailor's, assuring me that
with my good sense and literary ac
quirements, I probably might obtain
the admiration of boti) sexes. I thank-
ed him, but assured him I had seen e-
nough of fashio.iable life. He urged
me to stay to supper, which I did : wliat
was it ? blanch mange, smoked bonny
chibher; masses of corruption, called
jelly ; raw bacon, cut into thin slices,
holy wafer cakes, washed down with
that villanous compound of all liquors,
t .illed noyeau. I tasted of all, weir.,
home and took an emetic.
INlisfortunes, like wild geese, come i;i
flocks. iSIiss sent me a note of sorrow,
(1 hope without her father’s knowleitge)
that I should have so insulted her parly
by my dress ; and the ape ol a French
man forwarded a challenge, lor calling
him a baboon. To the foi inei I exprc^-
sed my regret, that I was thus ignorant,
of modern etiquette, and .promised u>
release her from further anxiety on ihi'i
head, and to the latter, sent a reply llia:
I would beat him into a quail trap, Icr
meddling w ith my queue.
Sitting as 1 do now, by the fire-place
at the side of my spectacled aunt, anti
reflecting upon my adventures as ihey
dance over the magic lantern of memo
ry, there is much forsjjeculative musing
The inconsistencies of fashion and ci
existence ; of Philosophy and of French
men, of bachelors, lire-fenders, pretU
girls and pokers, leave lesson? for grave,
instruction and sober aj)plication. Cj;^-
tom, like the night mare, rides us
to weariness, and none have enough of
independence to shake oil' the elf. Fash
ion holds the scale of oj)inion, and a
man is as much imlebted to his tailor as
to his classics, for honest fame and-
moilerate share of a literary reputalioii
And yet fashion is inconsistent with it
self. A Proteus ifi metamor])hosis, to
day, is frightened with its imaginarj
elegance of yesterday. Oh thou ill*
fated well bottomed, narrow’ backed,
interminable coat which once win
ked thy graceful ajipendage, wit I
so much of pride in the assemblies
of other days ! how* hast thou boat
eu down those ;erial castles betoken
ing consequence and renown amon;
the rosy domains of bright eyes aui*
llattering hearts ? 7\'/iij/urn
/ur, t'l /i06 7Jiu/cnrtiir Ulis—the int'^'-
pretalion of which is, ** Ichahoil, di'
glory of thy house has ileparted.
iciiAiJcr
117,VC srfi;i/i/:s nf —Fine sciisr, aii
exalted sense, are not half so wsi'lid .i •
common sense. There arc foitj’ nu'i
of wit fur one man of sense ; and lic
will r;iiry noiliini; about him li'it f;'’!'-'-
will he e\ciy day at a loss for wai*’-
readier chaii;c.
A man should never be ashamed to o^'I'
he lu‘i been in the wron;.^ : which is
sa\iii[.;, in oiher words, tliat he is
io-i!ay thiji be wa'; v'cs’a’xlay.
'I'o 1a- iiii!;ry is to revenge the faults*
olfiors iij)on ourselves.
'I’o relieve ihe oppresi;ed is the nio'
^^lorious acl a man is eapaide ol ; it ‘‘1
some measure, doing the business ol
and Providence.
^Vhc^ we are younij, we a.-e slavisid'
employed in (u’ocuring^ sonicU»ing w lu’H
l)y we may live comfortably whin "
t;ro\v old ; luid when we aic old wc p‘^
ccive il is too hile to live as we proposal'
’I’iie world is a thiiuj we nuisti
r.essity, either laui^h ai or be aiisp’)’
if we hiui'li w';’*. ;r. '!' ‘v >■'. v