That wife and good rulers will promote the cause of religion and lite rature. Such and the like inferences are drawn, after the preacher has illuftrated the doctrinal part of the difcourfe. They are fuch as will ever flow from the lips of the wife and good. Truth will prevail at lait, whatever oppofition it may meet from the demons of vanity, the imps of impertinence, or enemies of all righteoufnefs. The fermon concludes with cer tain addresses which are ufual upon the occafion, which commonly difguft pure and chafte minds both in the delivery and reading. If they are common it antwers no particular purpose, nor can be confidered as a token of refpect. Sometimes the compliments are by no means delicate. We give credit to Mr. K. for fomething handfome in his addrefs to Mr. Strong, which acquires its merit more from its being true than courteous. But if we take his addreffes in the group, they are far from being unexceptionable. But upon fuppofition that bad rulers fhould hereafter get into the place of thofe who now deferve refpect-which is poffible even in good old Maffachusettshow would a minifter of religion addrefs them? How ought he to addrefs them? Would not the better fort of clergymen refufe to preach upon the occafion? And if "like prieft like ruler," then what would be the reputation of Election Sermons ? The British Spy; or, Letters to a Member of the British Parliament, written during a Tour through the United States. By a young Englifbman of rank. Newburyport. Printed at the Repertory Office. 1804. pp. 104. WE had not perufed many pages of this little volume, before author is a young man, and not we were convinced, that their an Englishman. The letters are, however, ingenioufly written, and evince a mind fitted for extensive literary and fcientifick improve ment. the Argus, a paper published in "They first appeared in Richmond, Virginia, and are fuppofed to have been addressed to Mr. Sheridan." In the introductory note pubfaid to be extracted from "a copy lifhed in the Argus, thefe are of letters, written during a tour through the United States." As all in the prefent volume were written from Virginia, we clude that others are yet to appear. con The first letter contains a gec graphical and picturesque defcription of Richmond and its envihabitants for that debafing defrons, with strictures on its inerence which they pay to rank, even when its poffeffor is "without one folitary ray of native gebeam of fcience, without any of nius, without one adventitious thofe traits of foft benevolence, which are fo univerfally captivat is evidently inflated with the ing, and whofe whole character confideration that he is the fon of a lord."* * The perfon referred to by the author, is captain Murray, the fon of lord Dunmore. We cannot determine the applicability of thefe cenfures; though, in fpeculation, we fhould deem them juft, from that disparity of condition and neglect of education, by which the state of Virginia is distinguished. In the queries, whether the debafing fenfe of inferiority which characterizes the poor and ignorant tenants of the rich, "be a remnant of the colonial character," or whether it be natural for poverty and impotence, to look up with "veneration to wealth, property, and rank," we obferve a tautology; and though it may be faid, that the fituation of Richmond is beautiful and picturefque, yet the expreffion is by no means admiffible, that "Richmond occupies a very beautiful and and picturefque fituation." The fecond letter is a vindication" of the Abbe Raynal's opinion, that this continent was once covered by the ocean, from which it has gradually emerged." In fupport of this theory, feveral interefting facts are adduced, which, by many others, will be deemed corroborative of a very different and not lefs aftonithing event. For my own part, fays the author, while I believe the prefent mountains of America to have conftituted the original ftamina of the continent, I believe, at the fame time, the western as well as the caftern country to be the effect of alluvion; produced too by the fame caufes; the rotation of the earth, and the planetary attraction of the ocean. The concep tion of this will be eafy and fimple, if, intead of confounding the mind, by a wide view of the whole continent as it now stands, we carry back our imagination to the time of its birth, and fuppofe fome one of the highest pinnacles of the Blue Ridge to have just emerged above the furface of the fea. Now whether the rolling of the earth to the eaft give to the ocean, which floats loosely upon its bosom, an actual counter current to the west, which is, occa fionally, further accelerated by the cle, it is obvious that on the western collected by the fill water, on each fide, at the mouths of creeks, or below rocks, in the rapids of a river. After this new born point of earth had gained fome degree of elevation, it is probable that fucceffive coasts of vegetation, according to Dr. Darwin's dying on the earth, paid an annual idea, fpringing up, then falling and tribute to the infant continent, while fuch rain as fell upon it, bore down a part of its fubftance and affifted perpetually in the enlargement of its area. It is curious that the arrangement of the mountains both in North and South America, as well as the fhape of the two continents, combines to ftrengthen the present theory. For the mountains, as you will perceive on infpecting your maps, run, in chains, from north to fouth; thus oppofing the wideft poffible barrier to the fands, as they roll from east to west. The shape of the continents is juft that which would naturally be expected from fuch an origin; that is, they lie along, collaterally, with the mountain. As far north as the country is well known, thefe ranges of mountains are obferved; and it is remarkable that as foon 25 the Cordilleras terminate in the fouth, the continent of South America ends; where they terminate in the north, the continent dwindles to a narrow ifthmus. However problematical this theory may be, no one will deny the ingenuity of its author. Of the third and fourth letters, the fubject is American eloquence; and the fentiments of the author are comprised in these general remarks. 1. That our orators "have not a fufficient fund of general knowledge. 2. They have not the habit of clofe and folid thinking. 3. They do not afpire at original ornaments." To this cenfure exceptions might be made; but we would gladly deny that the "remarks," even generally, are lefs juft than fevere. The author is one of the few who have dared to pluck a leaf from the laurel crowns, which still encircle the heads of Demofthenes and Cicero. It is true, fays he, that at fchool I learnt, like the rcft of the world, to lifp, "Cicero the orator." But when I grew up and began to judge for myfelf, I opened his volume again, and looked in vain for that fublimity of conception which fills and aftonishes the mind, that fimple pathos which finds fuch a sweet welcome to every breast, or that reftiefs enthusiasm of unaffected paffion, which takes the heart by florm. Demofthenes, indeed, deferves the diftinction of having more fire and lefs smoke than Tully. But in the majestick march of the mind, in force of thought and fplendour of imagery, I think both the orators of Greece and Rome eclipfed by more than one perfon within his majefty's domin ions. That a critick, who has fuch views of excellence, fhould pronounce "far the greatest proportion" of American eloquence to be "puerile rant," or " tedious and difgufting inanity," is in no degree furprifing. We wonder only, that an expreffion of commendation has escaped his pen. His defcription of Patrick Henry, is that of a perfect orator. The fifth letter was occafionéd by a visit to "the fite of the Indian town, Powhatan, the metropolis of the dominions of Pocahuntas' father." His defcription of the emotions excited in the minds of the untaught Indians, by the first arrival of the English, and the fubfequent cruelties endured by thefe once happy natives, is highly eloquent and interefting; but we are very doubtful of the efficacy of his project to obtain the forgiveness and affection of thofe, from whofe fathers many parts of our country were moit unjustly taken. Were I prefident of the United States, I would glory in going to thefe Indians, throwing myfelf on my knees before them, and faying, "Indians, friends, brothers, O! forgive my countrymen ! If you can, O! come to our bofoms; be, indeed, our brothers; and fince there is room enough for us all, give us a home in your land, and let us be children of the fame affectionate family.” It is not true that magnanimity can nev er be loft on a nation which has produced an Alknomack, a Logan, and a Pocahuntas. Spirits of ancient Greece and Rome! where are ye now? In vain do we feek for a folitary evidence of existence among your degenerate fons ! "I myself," "fhe herself," "they themselves," "followed up," &c. are, at least, redundancics of expreffion, which are frequently ufed by our author, and often inelegant. It is impoffible to perufe the fixth letter without ftrong eme tions of pleafure; and we are no lefs furprised than the author, that "fuch a genius, fo accomplished a scholar and fo divine an orator as James Waddell, fhould be permitted to languish and die in obfcurity, within eight miles of the metropolis of Virginia." If all were fuch preachers, the influence of religion would be more widely extended. It is the principal defign of the feventh letter to sketch the character of Mr. Edmund Randolph. Though he is one who "leads the van of the profeffion" in Virginia, we fhould not, from this outline, prepare to hear him with high expectations. We prefume that the first letters of this tour through the United States were written in Virginia; elfe the author would not have faid, I have met with few perfons of exalted intellect in this country, whofe powers have been directed to any other pursuit than the law. The eighth letter was directed from Jamestown, and written in an ancient church yard. In fuch a place, the mind naturally reverts to the past and anticipates the future; and in recurring to " the bufy, bustling crowd which landed there two hundred years before," his fentiments are animated and affecting. a few despicable fragments of furveyor's fees, &c.; converting a body of polite, scientifick, and highly refpectable profeffors, into a fhop-board of contemptible, cabbaging taylors. And, then, instead of aiding and energizing the police of the college, by a few civil regulations, permitting their youth to run and riot in all the wildness of diffipation; while the venerable profeffors are forced to look on in the deep mortification of conscious impotence, and fee their care and zeal requited, by the ruin of their pupils and the destruction of their feminary. The fubject of the ninth letter is the power of genius; and throughout this letter the author feems to have felt the influence of this power. The remarks in the tenth letter, on the Spectator and on style, are, in general, correct and judicious. On the latter efpecially, we fervently with that the fentiments of the author were more extenfively diffufed. The expreflion methinks, though ufed by fome good authors, is ungrammatical. There is as much authority for its ufe, as for that of the expreffion, thinks I. To the volume are annexed the characters of the Hon. James Munroe, and of Mr. John Marfhall, chief juftice of the United States. The former is portrayed as a living, an honourable and illuftrious monument of felf cre ated eminence, worth, and greatnefs." The latter as "a man, who, without the aid of fancy, without the advantage of perfon, voice, attitude, or any of the ornaments of an orator, deferves to be confidered as one of the most eloquent men in the world." Can publick fpirit, can national virtue be expected in a ftate, where education is not only neglected, but treated with contempt? They (the inhabitants of Virginia) have only one publick feminary of learning; a college at Williamsburg, about feven miles from this place, which was erected in the reign of our William and Mary, and bears their name. This college, in From this fpecimen of the talthe faftidious folly and affectation of ents of the British Spy, we form high republicanism, they have endowed with expectations of the author. MONTHLY CATALOGUE OF NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, FOR SEPTEMBER, 1804. The Editor readily acknowledges the imperfection of the prefent lift; but wifbing that this article may contain a fort of biftory of new publications in our country, he takes the liberty of requesting the aid of authors and publishers towards rendering it complete. If notices of their works and proposals fall be furnifbed, free of postage, they shall be gratuitously inferted. NEW WORKS. A compendious History of New-England, by Jedidiah Morfe, D. D. and Rev. E. Parifh. An American tranflation of Pothier's Treatife on Infurance. Kelley's Elements of Book Keeping. James Humphreys, Philadelphia. rads, from the prefs of the Pal mers. Philadelphia. A neat pocket edition of Dr. Watts' Pfalms and Hymns. Sacra Privata, or Private Meditations and Prayers, by Rev. Thomas Wilfon. Mr. Hilliard. Cambridge. Hiftory of the Wars, which arofe out of the French Revolution, with a review of the causes of that event, by Alexander Stephens, Efq. An improved edition of Webfter's Spelling Book. IN THE PRESS. Logan's Sermons. PUBLISHING An abridged Church History of New-England from 1620 to 1804. By Ifaac Backus, A. M. A Differtation on the Cholera Infantum. By James Mann, A. M. Life of George Washington. By Judge Marshall. 1ft & 2d vols. A Scripture Catechifm, or System of Religious Inftruction. By a Clergyman. NEW EDITIONS. The works of Virgil, by Meffrs. Pointell & Co. from the prefs of Melfrs. Maxwell & Co. Philadelphia. À neat edition of Goldsmith's Effays, two vols. by Meffrs. Con BY SUBSCRIPTION. Orton's Expofition of the New Teftament, in 6 vols. Svo. at Charlestown. American Annals, or a Chronological Hiftory of America, by Rev. Abiel Holmes, A. M. Journal of a Tour to the Territory N. W. of the Alleghany Mountains, in the fpring of 1803, by Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris. Elements of General Knowledge, by Henry Kett, at Bofton. A new Syftem of Modern Geography, illuftrated with 7 maps. By Benjamin Davis. Volney's View of the United States. Guide to Domenick Happinefs, and the Refuge. Izmo. at New-Haven. |