The Mcse ! whatc'cr the Muse inspires,
My soul the tuneful strain aclinires....scoTT.
TO HOPE.
O ! take, young Scrap), take thy harp,
And play to me so cheerily ;
For grief is dark, and care is sharp,
Anil life wears on so wearily.
O ! take thy harp !
Oh ! sing- as thou wert wont to do,
"When, all youth's sunny season long,
I sat and listened to thy song,
And yet 'twas ever, ever new
"With magic in each heaven-tuned string,
The future bliss thy constant theme.
Oh, then each little woe took wing
Away like phantoms of a dream ;
As if each sound,
That fluttered round,
Had floated over Lethe's stream !
J3ut tho 1 canst sing of love no more,
For Celia showed that dream was vain -And
many a fancied bliss is o'er,
That comes not e'en in dreams again.
Alas ! Alas !
How pleasures pass,
And leave thee now no subject, save
The peace and bliss beyond the grave 1
Then be thy flight among the skies;
Take then, O ! take thy skylark's wing,
And leave dull earth, and heavenward rise
O'er all its tearful clouds, and sing
On skvlark's wins: !
A FRAGMENT nr t. campbeil.
Gentle and wedded love, how fair art thou !
How rich, how very rich, yet free of blame,
How calm and how secure ! the perfect hours
Pass onward to security w ith thee,
"Without a sigh or backward look of sorrow.
Pleasantly on they pass, never delayed
By doubt or vain remorse, or desperate fear;
But in thy train beauty and blooming joy
Pass hand in hand, and young-cy'd hope, whose
glance,
Not dimm'd, yet softened, by a touch of care,
Looks forward still, and serious happiness
JLics on thy heart a safe and sheltered guest.
Variety's the very spice of life,
That gives it all its flavor.
FilGM THE NATIONAL GAZETTE.
We have seen the new British work
on this country, entitled tk Views of So
ciety and Manners in America, by an
English woman." It is understood to
be the production of a lady who visi
ted the United States about a year or
two ago, in company with a sister and
without any regular companion of the
other sex. She printed, if we mistake
not, a poetical drama and some other
verse among us, but did not, we believe,
inspire the American reader with a
high idea of her qualifications for that
department of composition. Her prose,
in the present volume, is far superior
to the poetry to which wre refer, and
her kindness for America is even be
yond what could have been expected
from the most benignant temper and
liberal spirit.
She paints every thing coleur de rose ;
treats of our intellect, morals, manners,
education, religion, politics, political
history and institutions, scenery, ike.
and makes the most favorable report
of us on every topic. This lady is the
opposite of Fearons, Howitts, and all
the slanderous race of vulgjr British
travellers. She is as much distinguish
ed from them by dignity of tone and
refinement of mental tastes and par
suits, as by her amiable and even en
thusiastic feeling towards the United
States. Her book will be read with in
terest, and we think with some profit,
in this country. The American peo
ple must be pleased with so strong a
testimony borne in their favor, although
even the most relf-complacent among j
them cannot fail to deem her represen
tations rather too vividly and uniformly
encomiastic to be strictly faithful. !
We annex some extracts from "The
Views," to exemplify their tenor. The
amusing account of the Post Bag in
the back settlements of New-York,
does not appear to be meant to dispar
age the country, and is not, we appre
hend, liable to the charge of much ex
aggeration. kt I have been led to expect that the
citizens of Philadelphia were lessprsc-1
tiseci in courtesy to strangers than those
of New-York. Our experience does
not confirm the remark. We have on
ly to bear testimony to their civility.
There is at first something cold and
precise in the general air and manner of
the people. This coldness cf exterior,
however, wcars.off in a great measure,
upon further acquaintance, and what
may still remain you set down to the
ruling spirit and philanthropic father of
the city, and respect it accordingly.
"The children of the peaceful and
benignant William Penn, have not on
ly inherited the fashion of their patri
arch's garments, but his simple man-
ners, nis active pnuantnropy, nis miia
1 iri 1 1 'ill
forbearance, his pure and persevering
charity, thinking no evil, taking no
praise.
44 The Americans are very good
talkers, and admirable listeners; under-
stand perfectly the exchange of know-
ledge, for which they employ conver-
sation and employ it solely. They
have a surprising stock of information,
but this runs little into the precincts of
imagination; facts form the ground
work ot their discourse. I hev are
. . . . . "
accustomed to rest their opinion on
, 1 . , .
on ingenious theories and abstract rea-
soning; and are always wont to over-
turn the one, by a simp e appeal to the
other, fhey have much general know-
ledge, but are best read in philosophy,
history, political economy, and the gen-
eral science ot government. Ihe
gov
world, however, is the book which they
, . 1 1 1
lebpok which they
ntively, and they
consider most atte
make a general practice olf turning oyer
c Pi6e3 evei iai. a I...HU m.u
comes across them : they do this very
quietly, and very civihy, and with the
understanding: thjt vou are at perfect
ig thJt you are at perlect
hberty to do the same by them, . fhey
are entirely mauvaise nonte.
1 he constant exercise ot the reason-
ing power gives to their character and
manners a mildness, plainness, and un-
changing suavity, sin has are oken re-
marK ai m Lurope m men ucvotcu o
the abstract sciences. Wonderfully
patient and candid in argument, close
reasoners, acute observers, and ongi-
nal thinkers, they understand little play
of words, or as the French more dis-
tinctly express it, badinage. The peo-
pie have nothing of the poet in them,
nor of the bcl esprit. On the other
hand, thev are well informed and lib-
eral philosophers, who can give you in
a 1 a. uuu ,u. oui a utuuu cum
enlightened views, than you could re-
I f A I
ceive irom me nrsi corps meraire ci.AXy. npith,rrlpR;r. nnrwJll
dramatize of Europe by listening to
them a whole evening. It is said that
every man has ins lorte and so per-
naps, nas every na ion : uuil 01 me
1ucjj1.au 10 Lciuuuiv uuuu. sense i iius
stt rlirtg quality is the current com ol
the country, and it is curious to see
how immediately it tries the metal of
other minds. In truth, I know no peo-
pie who will sooner make you sensible
01 your own ignorance.
C S
4 It was finely answered by an A-
merican citizen to an Jburopean who,
lnokintr rnnnrl him. exclaimed. 41 Yes :
O 7
this is all well. You have all the vul-!
gar and the substantial, but I look in
vain for the ornamental. Where are
your ruins and your poetry r" "There ,
are our ruins," replied the Republi- j e part ot cur government. A bow
can, pointing to a revolutionary soldier ' er had been erected in a field adjoining
who was turning up the glebe ; and
then extending his hand over the plain
stretched before them, smiling with
luxuriant farms and little vallies, peep
ing out from beds of trees "There
is our poetry."
"There is something truly sublime
in the water scenery in America ; her
lakes, spreading into the inland seas,
their vast, deep and pure waters, re
flecting back the azure of heaven, un
stained with a cloud ; her rivers, col
lecting the waters of hills and plains
interminable, rolling their massy vol
umes for thousands of miles, now bro
ken into cataracts to which the noblest
cascades of the old hemisphere are
those of rivulets, and then sweeping
down their broad channels to the far
off ocean, the treasures of a world.
The lakes and rivers of this continent
seem to despise all foreign auxiliaries
of nature or art, and trust to their own
unassisted majesty to produce effect
upon the eye and the mind; without
alpine mountains or moss-grown ruins,
they strike the snectator with awe.
Extent, width, depth it is by these
intrinsic qualities that they afiect him ;
their character is one of simple gran
deur : you stand upon their brink or
traverse their bosom, or gaze upon
their rolling rapids and tumbling cata
racts, and acknowledge at once their
power and immensity, and your own
insignificance and imbecilitv. Occa
sionally you meet with exceptions to
this rule. I recall at this moment the
beautiful shores
c i
the P
assaic
its
graceful cascades, its wall cf wooden
hills, and rich and varied landscape, all
spread beneath a sky of glowing sap
phires ; a scene for Claude to gaze up
on. These north western waters, how
ever, have nothing of this variety ; you
find them bedded in vast level plains,
bordered only by sable forests, from
which the stroke of the axe Has just
startled the panther and the savage."
-)c V ff rK
Varieties. In our last we gave
our readers a charminir delineation of
private character from the pen of Miss
Wright. The following anecdotes il-
Iustrative of the nation, and some of
its brightest ornaments, are ecmallv
gratifying to the pride of our hearts,
as Americans. She thus describes thn
circumstances of the mutiny of the
Pennsylvania line, in die seventh year
Qf tbe revolutionary war.'
u Faiming under the united hard.
a- f 1... i-i.c-.r
r i i i .1 .1
iuuu anu. cunning, iney wuneircw irom
the body qf the army' demanding that
which their officers had not to give, the
;TV,m.wi;.,,j .r .1
To awc theml (utQ obc(Hen Gen.
w nted hh isl1 thcy
n-' tL;. bt. J uc Unct '
Lt UV. .OVtr nndrVsner.f -vn.i. hnt if von
f are a dcaj Wc
.1 1, . ,1..,.
tV''K - enemy.; uui arc uclc j m in-
ed on obtainingour just rights.'' They
w:thfi - ;n"-r,w w:,k ifw
Lrm9 and field pieces "to a neighboring
lown committed no devastations but
pcrsisted ;n their demands,
dispatched some of its mimi
k... r .u
Congress
:mbcrs to the
n,t;n(,ipc ilf i,,. tuco
emissarics .from the cnemy appcarcd
anions them. TJnrn11dmnn.nl forms
xvm 4ir,ri . u t,rf.r-t.mt or.,1
imrn.-dinte mv.-r ',n,l nwUtnnr ,.f n
bod t;f ro x troo aIrtadv on tneir
march towards them. ' Their'reply was
thc instant seizure-of their evil temp
ter .vhnm lhtfV senf. imerlinrK- ,,n-
dcr a d from thdr Qwn bod -Q the
ami. enerni whn h:ld nn:ntefi hi; nU.
tnU .At thi -r 1; A : thtm
of thf. ronOT,ss'sfnmm;s.;ni:r tuf.:r
:,..,,. wprr fttntpfl :ln1 P.firi.ccrf, .
but vhen president Keed olTered them
u,twi.,i 1,:W1. c
purse as a reward for their fidelity in
hav5nfr .nrrnrWrl tho th Jr-.
dv patriots refused them. We have
(.Qne a dutv we owe(
reward$ but thc approbation of that
rnlmtrv fnr wMrh w. r
bIt.d m a country peopled by such
men, might be overrun, but could not
k cnhfliiffl "
TECUMSE1I.
A gentleman from one of the north-
western states related a lew days since
,.11.." 1 - -11
l4lc lunuwiug anecuoie, as illustrative
or the sense ot honor and devoted sen-
timents which characterize many of the
Indian warriors.
beveral Vears atro. at a treatv held
1 J
Wlth some Indian tribes at Vincennes,
m Indiana, at which the celebrated Te-
cumseh was present, general Harrison
acted as one of the commissioners on
the town for the meeting of the parties.
IJeiore the council was opened, Gen.
II arrison handed several chairs to thc
American officers and gentlemen who
were present before he offered one to
Tccumseh. On handing him one, the
haughty warrior thrust it aside i and
surveying those around him with a
mingled expression of pride and con
tempt, threw himself in a reclining pos
ture on the ground. Gen. Harrison
endeavored to sooth him, and through
the interpreter, asked whether he in
tended to offend his Great Father?
" My father I" said the indignant chief,
44 the Sun is my father, and the Earth
is my mother, and I will repose my
self on her bosom."
Albany Statesman.
Remedy against lying. A Chinese
silversmith, to whom the English gave
the name of Tom Workwell, brought
home some silver spoons, as he called
them, to a captain of a ship, who had
ordered them. The gentleman sus
pecting that his friend Tcm had played
liim a trick, common in China, of ad
ding no small quantity of tutenague to
:he usual proportion of alloy, taxed
l-.im with the cheat, which he denied
with the strongest asseverations of his
innocence. The captain then told him,
that he had brought with him a famous
water, called lie rcvVr, which being
placed on the tongue of a person sus
pected cf tellirg.an untruth, if the
e?e were so, burned a hole in it; if
otherwise, the party escaped with hon
or, and m.hurt. Tom, thinking it a
trick, readily consented , upon which,
with much form, aaingle drop of aqua
fortis was put upon his tongue ; he in
stantly jumped about the room in vio
lent pain, crying out, 4 Very true, half
tutenague, half tutenague,' in hopes
that confessing the fact, might stop the
progress of the lie xvatcr, which, from
the pain he felt, he had some reason to
think possessed the quality ascribed to
it. Several Europeans who were pres
ent, and who hud bought different pie
ces of plate from him, now pat simi
lar questions to him ; and he confessed
that it had been his constant practice,
to add a very large quantity of tuten-
ague to every article made in his shop,
for which, during-the continuance 01
the pain, he promised ample reparation,
LAUGILIBLB SKETCH OF THE I.Air.
Law ! law ! law ! is like a fine woman's
temper; a jery difficult study. Law is
like a book of surgery ; a great many ter
rible cases in it. Law is like fire and wa
ter ; very good servants, but very bad when
they get the upper hand of us. It is like
a homely genteel woman, very well to fol
low : It is also like a sc'olding wife, very
bad when it follows us. And ag tin, it is
like bad weather, most people choose to
keep out of it. In law there are four
parts: thc quidlibet, the quodlibct, the
quid pro quo, and the sine qua non. Im
primis, the quidlibet, or who began first ?
Because, in all actions of assault, thc law
is clear, that firobh jokis is absolutift maris,
sine jokis : which being elegantly and clas
sically rendered into English, is, that what
soever he be that gave the first stroke, it
was absolutely ill and without a joke. Sec
ondly, the quodIibet,or the damages ; but
that the law has nothing to do with, only
to state them ; for whatever damages en
sue, they are all in client's perquisites,
according to the ancient Norman motto :
if he is cast, or castandrum, he is " sem
per ruinandum." Thirdly, eiuid pro quo,
feeing counsel ; giving words for money, j
or having moncv for words ; according
to that ancient Norman motto : " Sicurat ;
lex," ve live to perplex. Fourthly, the
sine qua non, or, without something, what
would any thing be good for ? Without a
Urge fee, what would be the out to'of
the law ?
JtODERJV JLIAWERS.
COXVEHS1TIOS .
It is said that the emptiest vessels make
the greatest noise. Don't let that deter
you from making a free exercise of your
lungs. It is conducive to your health.
Therefore, in every conversation, howev- j and to propagate and encrease those
er trivial it may be, be sure to bawl as loud j enslaving fears which render men ab
as possible. I c0i,ltel
V unfit fnr imdrrfrihin rr nrul nr-
- anr peopie imagine tnai ne wno wiks
the least on the subiect is the weaker par -
4. r , J .r , ,r ,
ty ; therefore, by vociferating as loud and
as fast as possible, you will be thought to
u u-t. r k i...
.Many people imagine that he who talks
have the heiter of the anrument hv th
generality of your hearers, especially if
properly interlarded with oaths. "
Always whisper what you call secrets
in company, whether you are in posses-
sion of any or not. It shews the open
ness of your disposition.
When you mean to introduce an inter
esting story, make out a kind of preface
about an hour's length, by way of impres
sing on your hearers the pleasure they are
nhnnt tr rerpivp. Tt thev should he dis-
appointed, that is not your fault, you did
vour best; and so much time has been
passed away at least to your own satisfac-
tion.
Introduce as many episodes and digres
sions into your narrative as you can possi
bly contrive to biing in.
Loud laughter at, you don't know what,
is a fine auxiliary in company, when your
stock of reason is exhausted; this expe
dient never fails to carry down all before
you.
When a person is in the midst cf an in
teresting relation, discover great impa
tience, by various signs and tokens, to
show you are prepared for a contradiction,
In all conversations studiously avoid
brevity. If you have a good thing to say,
the more you make of it the better; hence
modesty and diffidence should be disre-
garded in polite company, as conceit and
assurance 'vill be sure to come off con-
.-ri r- i i r.
querors. i ne iormer mntiers vou irom
saving what vou ought on anv subject : the
latter makes ycu say a great deal more,
Then surely the preference should be giv-
en to the latter. .
Some old fashioned people have thought
a good stock of attentive reading very ne-
ccssary to carry on an interesting conver
sation ; but thanks to modern discoveries,
we have got the better of these prejucii,
ces: all that is now necessary, is never to
put a ceminel on your tongue ; nature has
made it for motion ; and though some may
esteem rescrvedness and silence virtues,
you will find, by the mere dint of assur
ance and loud discourses, about any thing
that strikes your fertile imagination, you
will b? considered a very useful, accepta
ble, and communicative gentleman ; at tiie
sume time be sure to let your hands and
arms assist your tongue at every marked
period ; pay no regard to giving a back
handed blow to those near you, every two
or three minutes. It revives their atten
tion to the topic on which you are giving
your liberal sentiments.
It shews great civility and ttteniion, o
point blank contradict another when Lc
labors under a momentary mistake.
IEOM the cronciAx.
ON THE TERRORS OF DEATH.
Death has ever been termed the king
of terrors and the terror of kings ; and
its tyrannical sway is a most important
subject of deep meditation. This grim
tyrant closes the scene of our present
existence, and puts an end to all our
worldly projects and imaginary schemes
of hanniness. What have mankind so
' rrreat a reluctance and aversion to ? It
: readily mav be answered, nothing!
The very thought terrifies, and there
fore is diverted as much as possible,
as too awful and gloomy, to make way
for the gayer and more sprightly ima
ges. And to this it is undoubtedly
owing, that so many behave with so
little decency, so little of manly firm
ness and courage under the immediate
apprehensions of it. If without re
garding the consequences cf death, we
consider it only as an unavoidable event,
but at the same time shocking to na
ture, it is certainly wisdom to render
it intimate and familiar to the mind,
that its horrors being diminished by
frequent and close conversation with it,
we may submit with becoming resig
nation, to the appointment of an all
wise Providence, and to the universal
law of mortality. This will be an un speakable
happiness to enrsches, i
that critical hour, when every thing
around us has a melancholy aspect, and
the spirits are faint and languid ; it ir.
honorable to human nature, and repre
sents it in an advantageous light ; it has
a natural tendency to encourage and
comfort these who serve us, and inspire
them with a generous contempt of death.
But, to be unprepared for what we
know will certainly happen, and for
want of due reflection upon it, to meet
it, when it eloes happen, with trem
bling and confusion, is an argument of
weakness and pusillanimity ; it debases
the dignity of our nature, and makes
it appear despicable ; it is a reproach
to our religion, as if its principles
were not strong enough to support us
under those special exigencies, in
which their influence is most desirable,
and, without it, tends to dispirit others,
rnmni:su:nfr mnnv noKi, f!c: r
; c ,ish5n b, d . f ,
, . r . . J .
I utmost importance to society. Iher
i . . , , 1 , , . - ,
j .s incIc.ed a Sycat de.al ln men s naturr
I formation and constitution : some, nr
ere
al
formation and constitution : some are
bold ad daring spirits, that scarce
any thing can depress and control -r
while others are of such fearful, and
susdicious temners. as to be alarmed
i i 1 y
by every imagination of danger; and
to such, it may be next to impossible
to compose and quiet their minds, in
the near view of dissolution. But
most certain it is, that if any thing will
enable a man to behave in his last mo-
ments with tolerable calmness and re-
signation, it is tne using nimselt to
meditate on his departure hence, its
necessity, and the tolly ot repining or
struggling against the fixed and unal
terable laws of Providence ; and above
all, on the glorious rewards of piety
and true goodness in the future life,
in comparison of which, all worldly
glory and pleasure are insignificant
and trnling.
But this leads me to a subject of
still deeper reflection : "The awful
consequences of death." And not to
contemplate these, with the greatest
concern, with the strictest attention,
must argue unaccountable stnpiditv,
that Wft are hardencd even aRa;nst-a
sense -f Qur ;mercsl- ,or h
r . r
fut"re state 's the. n'- flsed. F"
ner srfnf nt n'inninp;s nr m,Friv T
- - --ri
thereiore demands our chief regard, if
we act merely on principles of reason
and common prudence; and thjs hie
con be but of little importance, any
otherwise than as, bv the appointment
Qf the wise Author of Nature, it is cjn-
nected with and preparatory to it. Be
sides, our meditating on the state of
good and bad men hereafter, will fur
nish us with the most encouraging mo
tives to the practice of religion and
universal righteousness, and the most
! powerful persuasives from vice and
impurity. For we can none of us,
surely, be so rash as to resolve to per
sist in dissolute courses, with shame
and remorse, misery and ruin, full in
view. And nothing can so effectually
disarm death of its terror, or adminis
ter such consolation and support in the
prospect of it, as this thought, that it'
opens a passage for us into eternal life,
and the enjoyment of blessedness and
glory inconceivable. f