The telescope. (Columbia, S.C.) 1815-1818, August 06, 1816, Image 4
POETRY.
TIIB DAY-JULY 4, IttlO.
ST MAJOR i. v. sarkkii, or rtiiL*uu.rnu.
8incc a tout jrou demand, tiul I can't say you my,
1 must task my invention to bring one i
But feclir.g quite sure th.?t I've nothing to toy,
By yourVwe, I'll endeavor to ting one.
But All while you may.
That'# the right way,"
Or the Might will be lterc,cre wo drink down the day.
Pd give you M th* oa?,m l?ut you've had it before ?
80 nm thtr dam I must try, air t
From our civ--iny'?l>ack I mutt borrow a teore
That we marked sincc tlie Fourth of July, sir.
Fill while ye may, &e.
Then here's to the day, were they foggy or fine,
That blushed nn our foe* early follies 1
The day that the Yankee* C?rnva!Uttd Burgoyne?
And the <&iythey Hurgoyned jioor Cortiwallis.
Fill while jc uiay, tee.
Ami here'* to the dityt, which, in Fort or on Plain,
l/itcly shone on our rival's disaster* ;
Ami to nil the britfht day*, that, on Lake and on Mall),
Saw his fleets and liitt frigate*, change masters.
Fill while we may, fcv*.
In treating or JfgWng, wc ntill yain'd if*' day,
Ah at Client, and elsewhere it apjH*ar?i sir ;
fc'o here's to the day that wc pained in that way,
From John Bull, and the I>cy ol Alg'ieni, sir.
Fill while ye may, kc.
Ifrrc's the day.?But the dau would'nt list till I'd done,
Should I go the full length of my tether >
S*> till up your hiun|>cr*, whilo yet there is sun,
And let's drink all our dnyt, here, together
Fill while )C may, kc.
TIIB PRBHENT AGE.
Of all the ugrs ever known,
The iircscut is the oddest 1
As all the Men ntc hottctl grown,
And all the Women mode*t.
No {.Awygrs now arc fond of fees,
No Clergy of their due* j
Few people at the Race one see*.
At Church what crowded pews *
The Undies dress so plain, indeed,
You'd think thorn Quakers all 1
Witness the Turbans on theirhead;,
So romely and so small !
No pleasure Chaises fill the strf<-t%
Or crowd the roads on Sunday i
So horses lab'ring through tlw week,
Oiituin a respite one (lay !
Happy the nation thus endow'd?
So void ofwant5 and crimes !
All zealous for their neighbor*' good !
Oh thete are GLORIOUS TIMES !
IMPROMPTU
On the wtur. 'Fttrmwt mv in fuihinn.
I'hc garb, Dutch or tissue, in which our Beau kind,
Parade up ami down, all so spruce,
Of two tow n? in Francc ever put one in mind?
And those trc Tovlo* andTorioi ?i *
? Too long and fco love.
C1IAHACTKH8.
MOM SKETCH!* or AMKUK-AX un.lTOIIl
MR. WIRT.
1 have seen no one who has such natural ad
vantages and so many qualities requisite for ge
nuine eloquence, as Mr. Wirt. His person is
dignified and commanding) his countenance
open, manly, and playful; his voice clear and
musical; and his whole appearance truly ora
torical. Judgment and imagination hold a di
vided dominion over his mind, and each is so
conspicuous thtvt it is difficult to dccide which is
ascendant. His diction unites force, purity, va
riety and splendor more perfectly than tnatof
any speaker I have heard, lie had great oriai
Dal powers of action, but they have been totally
unassisted, by the contemplation of a sood mo
del. Ilia wit is prompt, pure and brilliant, but
these less scintillations or fancy are lost in the
blaze of his reasoning and declamation.
His premises are always broad and distinctly
laid down, his deductions are faultless, and bis
Conclusions of course irresistible from the pre
dicate. In this *ie resembles what he has ob
served of Mr. Marshall, admit his first proposi
tion and the conclusion is inevitable. The
march of his mind is direct to its object, the evo
lutions by which he attains it are so new and
apparently neccscary to the occasion, that your
admiration is kept alive, your fancy delighted,
and your judgment convinced, through every
stage of the. process, lie leaves no objection to
his reasoning unanswered, but satisfies every
doubt as he progresses. His power over his
subject is so great, and so judiciously directed,
that ho sweeps the whole field of discussion,
Varely leaves any thing for his assistants to
glean, and sometimes anticipating the position
of >his enemyV battery, renders it useless, by
destroying beforehand the materials of which its
fortifications were to be erected. Ho has been
sometimes known to answer by anticipation all
the arguments of the opposing-counsel so per
fectly, as to leave liiin nothing to suy, which had
not wen better ft.-iid already. These great com
binations are so closely connected, the succes
cession of their parts sonutural, eaxy and ranid,
that the whole operation, offensive and defen
sive, appears but one effort. There is no weak
point in his array, uo cVink in the whole line of
bis extended works. Then the sweet melody
of voice, the beautiful decorations of fancy, the
easy play of a reason, by which all this is accom
panied, amazo and delight. His pathos in na
tural and impressive) there is a pastoral simpli
city and tenderness in hia pictures of distrefs,
whan he describes female innocence, helpless
ness ami beauty, which the husband on whom
fiho smiled should have guarded even from the
winds of beaveti which would visit it too rough
ly, " standing at midnight on the wintry banks
of the Ohio, mingling her tears with the torrent
which froze aa they fall)" it is not a theatrical
trick to move a netting pity, but a deep and
impressive appeal to the dignified charities of
our it?t**re.
Had ono with so rich a genius, with auch a
soul for eloquence, its Mr. Wirt certainly pos
sesses, teen Mr. Henry in some of hit greatest
exhibitions, I should not How have to deplAre
the want of n finished orator at any American
bar. But that bright meteor, shot from Ha mid
beaten sphere too oarly for Mr. Wirt, And the
gloi v ut liid art descended with him. No Phw-i
nix has risen from hit ashes. Hut I am inclined
to think tliero in moro than ono orator now liv
ing in tho United Slates, who, on such occasions
as Henry thundered, lightened and electrified
tho people, could wield tho Olympic bolt with
no feeble hand. To obtain tho fame of an ora
tor there must be subject* demanding tho high
est decorations of eloquence. The accusation
of Demosthenes against hit guardian, or C'ico
ro's defence of Quinctius and Archias, would
never have made their names immortal. It was
the fire with which they consumed Philip, and
Cataline, and Verres, and Anthony, which has
covered them with unfading glory. It is an odd [
perversity of our nature, to admire what 'ih jpast
and to undervalue what is present. This is in
the naturo of our constitution, for when young,
we ore moro susceptible of pleasure, and taku
a pride when old, in persuauing others that wo
have seen more wonderful things than thoy.?
Ono might have heard at Rome, from those who
were old when Cicero was young, that he was
inferior to Crassus, to Anthony, and to Hurten
sius. But the universal tradition of the effect*
of Mr. Henry's eclipsing eloquence silences all
these cavils by which less orators might vindi
cate tho equality of their pretensions. ^ I fear*
as has been said of tho Swan of Avon's music,
it was a dying strain,
?? \\c IMS cr ahull *cc its like again."
Aubrey'* account of Hhakesoeare and Hen John
son. From his manuscripts preserved in the
Jlshnwlean Museum, at Oxford.
Mil. WILLIAM SllAKKSI'KAnF..
" William Shakespeare'it father was a butcher,
and I have been tola heretofore, by some of tho
neighbors, that when he was a boy lie exercised
his father's trade} but when he killed n calf lie
would do it in a high style, and make a speech.
This William being inclined naturally to poetry
and acting, came to I*oiidoii, 1 gtieun about
eighteen, and was an artor at one of the play
houses, and did act exceedingly well. (Now
Ben Johnson was never a good actor, but an ex
cellent instructor.) lie began early to make
essays in drainatique poetry, which at that time
was very lowe, and his playes took well, lie
wos a handsome well shaped man, very good com*
pany, and of a very ready, and pleasant, and
smooth witt. Thenumourof tho constable, in
Jl JWdsommer Night Dreame> he happened to
take at Crendod, in Bucks, (I think it was mid
summer night that he happened to be there,)
which is the road from London to Stratford)
and there was living that constable about 164$,
when I came first to Oxon. Mr. Jos. Howe is
of tho parish, and knew him. Ben Johnson and
lie did gather humours of men wherever they
came. One time, as he was at tho toverno at
Stratford, Mr. Combes, an old usurer, was to
be buryed ; he makes then this extemporary c
pitaph upon him :
? Ton in the hundred thr Dovill allowcs,
Hut Combes will have tuHve, he nwrjrs and hcvotvea j
If any one aslcc who lict in IhU tombe,
lloh! quoth the DcviH, 'tis my Johno Combe ('
" He wa? wont to go to his native country
once a yearn. I think I have been told that lie
left neare 500/. to a sister. He understood La
tin pretty well, for ho had been in his younger
yeares a school master in the country."
MR. JJKNJAMIN JOJINHON, l'OET-LAV R RAT.
" I remember when 1 was a scholar at Trin.
Col. Oxon, 10-16, 1 hoard Mr. ltalph Hathurst
[now dean of Wells] say, that Den Johnson whs
a Warwickshire man. I'is agreed that his fa
ther was a minister; and by his epistle 1). D. of
Kvtry Man???1to Mr. "Win. Camden, that
he was a Westminister scholar, and that Mr.
W.Camden was his schoolmaster. I lis mother,
after his father's death, inarriud a bricklayer ;
and tig generally sayed, that he wrought some
time with his father in lawe, and particular) v on
the garden wall of Linrolns Inn, next to Cliau
cery lane ; and that a knight, a bencher, walk
ing thro', and hearing him repeat some Urccke
verses out of of Homer, discoursing with him,
and finding him (o have a witt extraordinary,
gave him some exhibition to maintain him at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was x
then he w??nt into the Lowe Countreys, and
spent some time, not very long, in the arinic, I
not to the disgrace of it, as you may find in bis
epigraines. Then lie came into Kngland, and
acted and wrote at the (irccn Curtaine [but both
ill] ? a kind of nursery, or obscure play-house,
somewhere in the suburbs (I think towards Who
[ reditch or Clarkenwell.) Then he undertooke
lagainc to write a play, und did hitt it admirably
! well} viz. Every Man -, which was his
[first good one. Sergeant Jo. llonkiitw, of Here
fordshire, was liis tnfnrr. I remember hid sonne
Hir Ilennet Hosktns, baronet. (who was tome*
thing poctical in his youth) told me, that when
he desired to be adopted his sonne, No, said lie,
Mis honour enough tor me to he your brother :
He was (or rather had been) of a cleare and fair
skin: his habit was very plnine. I have heard
Mr. Lacy, the player, say, that he was wont to
wearc a coatc like a coachman's coate, with slitt.n
under the arm-pitts. lie would many times ex
cede indrinkct Canaric was his beloved liquor)
then ho would tumble home to bed, and when he
iad thoroughly perspired, then to studio. 1
I have seen his studyeing chaire, which was of
?trawe, such as old women used, and as Aulus
Oellius is drawn in. When I was in Oxon, His
lOpBkynner (Hp. of Oxford,) who lay at our coll.
was wont to say, tbat he understood an author
as well as any man !ji Kngland. He mentions,
in his epigrames, a tonne that he had, and his
epitauh. Long since, in King James's time, 1
have neard my unclo havers (Oanvejrs) say, who
kn^w him, that he lived without Temple barre,
at a comlie-msker's shop, about the Klephts.
Castle. In nit later time he lived in Westmi
nister, in the house under whlche you patso as
{ou goe out of the Churche yarde Into tho Old
atacc, where he dyed. lie lies buried in the
north aisle, the path xiuare of ttonet, the rest is
lozenge* opposite to the Scutcheon of Roberta*
de Ho*, with this inscription only on hiin, in a
pavement square of bleu marble, O rare lien
Johnion ? which was donne at the charge of Jack
Young, afterwards knighted t who walking
there when (he grave was covering, gave the fel
low eighteen pence to cutt it.*'
LADY IIBSTElTsTANIlOPR.
Lady Hester Stanhope, who belongs to one
oftho first families in England, merits a place a
mong the inoat celebratoa and intrepid travellers
of the present age. This Lady, the niece, the
friond, and intimato companion of Mr. Pitt, was
not less attached to him by conformity of miud
than by tho tics of blood. She enjoys a pension
front her country. Pitt, who, as is anoWn, died
without fortune, left to nis nieces, poor as him
self, a few linen in which he recommended them
to the genoro&ity of the people of England. Af
ter tho death o! her uncle, l*ady Hester formed
the project of travelling in the Levant} she first
repaired to Malta, ami from thcnce proceeded
to (.'onstantiuople. Wishingafterwards to make
a pilgrimage to Palestine, she sailed for the llo
I) Land, out had the misfortune to be ship
wrecked oft'the Isle of Rhodes. Cast on a bar
ren rock, slto seemed destined to perish by hun
ger, but an English ship, whicn appeared on the
following duy, took her on board, and convey
ed her tu Syria. There she travelled in all di
rectum*, accompanied by Mr. Bruce, who has
just been tried lor the part he took in the escape
of Lavulette. blic spout many yearn wander
ing among the i uina of Palmyra and llierapolis,i
and exploring the valiics of Mount Lebanon.?
Living for whole months on rice and water, and
accustoiucU to the frugality of Oriental habits,
.void being feeble and debilitated, she became a
strong anu vigorous Ama/.on. According to let
ters which she has addressed to her family in
Unuland, she ia now at the hean of three tribes
of fiedouin Arabs who regard her as a beiug of a
superior order. Bhc has had several clnluren,
whom she was fond of, brought to her from Eng
land ) and she declares, that she never will for
sake that Land of the Sun, to breathe the hu
mid and cloudy atmosphere of Oreat-ttritain.
<B>eflultorp jfetlectiowg.
HE1.ATION8 WITH 8PAIN.
At this time, when our attaint with Spain ap
pear to be approaching a crisis, every thing re*
lating to the subject will naturally be viewed
with interest. The following is from the Wash
ington City Gazette.
" It is with a very ill grace that the Spanish
government places itself in the light ol an injur*
cd party in tho <|ucstions dcpendiug between it
auu the United States on the subject ol Florida.
?p*in docs not content tiio transier ol Louisiana
by France; and not contenting that, she of course
abandons all claim to whatsoever the trunsler in
cluded. Tho American government requires no
more : Injustice to itself it cannot accept of
less. Whether Louisiana, as purchased by the
United States, comprehends any portion of
West Florida, is a question for amicable discus*
nion. The United .States have been long ready
to meet it. It is Spain herself that is culpable
in procrastinating an equitable aud honest ad
justment of limits.
'? In taking possession of a portion of West
Florida, as part of the Louisiana purchase, the
United States acted upon the soundest princi
ples of political morality. Should Spain make
out her title to it, the territory in dispute will
be instantly relinquished to her.
" The .Spanish governn.eut had acied with pe
culiar bad faith towards that of the U. States.?
During the earlier years of the French revoluti
on, Spain and tlic Vnitcd States being at peace,
the Spanish sovereign allowed French consular
admiralty courts to lie instituted within hi,h ju
risdiction, by which a large amount of American
property was condemned. There can be uo
clearer principle of the law of nations than this \
that every independent state is responsible to
any other independent state for injurie* done to
the latter, by force, or sufferance, or connivance.
This principle applies to thf condition of things
between the United States and Spain. The
Spanish government itsolf seemed, under the in
fluence ot momentary feelings of rectitude, to ac
knowledge itj and entered into a treaty [in
I HO2] to make competition for the losses of A
mericaii citizens by the privilege granted to the
French tribunals established in Spuin. This
treaty was believed by the American government
to have been complete, with the exception of
some particulars or formalities, not considered
of any very great importance, or as opposing any
serious obstacle to tho final ratiHcation ofit.?
II v an artifice, however, in which the famous
Yrujo was a principal agent, the Spanish sove
reign contrived to render it null. Yrujo procur
ed, from some lawyers in Philadelphia, a writ
ten opinion, that an acquittance ol a principal
absolved an accessary from all responsibility.?
This is a maxim of the common law, applicable
chiellv to criminal offender* t and it was atgued
I therefrom, by the Spanish authorities, that as the
United States had adjusted their differences
I with France without demanding compensation
for the property condemned by the French courts
in Spain, the latter stood, of coarse, acquitted,
the French government being the principal of
fender and that of Spain merely an accessary.
Thus, by a stratagem, a rule of municipal law
was purloined for the code of nations, aud some
of our ablest lawyers were made to appear us if
opposed in opinion to their own government.?
The doctrine of the Spaniards, on this a-cmion,
is too absurd to require particular refutation ?.
Were it to he practised upon by any nation, that
nation would inevitably be converted into a ren
dezvous and asylum for all sorts of robbers.?
Let us suppose simply the rnxc of a pirate, cap
turing American pronerty and carrying it into
S|iaih, allowing it tobe there condemned an good
Srize, ought we to look to the pirate, and not to
10 sovereign of Spain, for reparation ? The
essence of tho common law maxim, that the ac
quittal of a principal acquits the accessary, con
sists in the want of proof to support the fact with
which the principal is charged, or in the want of
law to punish him for the crime i ami more es
pecially, in the circumstance that both the one
and the other of the accused purtie* are charged
with the snmr offence. JJutthefa^,?- it relates
to Spain, it not eve a doubted i that the cla'ufil,
ought to bo liquidated it not denied by the Span
iards themselves t the ooly point is by whom ?
Spain soys by France?the United 8tates say, by
Spfin? The United States never regarded the
French aa the offender in the caso of spoliations
by the tribunals of*France orcctcd within tho
Spanish Jurisdiction. In that respcct it looked
to Spain as a principal. Tho adjustment of
claims with France, therefore, could not, oven
according to the common law maxim, exonerate
the Spanish authorities, because on them it was
la distinct claim, never made upon the French*
It was an offence committed witnin the territory
of Spain, which sho was bound to prohibit, anil
which she permitted to bo-there consummated at
her peril.
*' i*his bad faith, and this artifice, on the part
of t'ie Spanish government, was rendered still
more exceptionable by the uncourteou* manners,
swelling even to iusolence, displayed by the
noted and pompous Yrtijo. lie endeavored to
Kuhorne a press at Philadelphia to uid him in hit*
wicked career, and in the excess of his uhagrin
and audacity, made an elfort to brow-heat the A
merican executive, in the metiopoli* of tho union.
" 'litis conduct on the part of Spain infallibly
tends to destroy all confidence in her honor or
seuse of justice. Yet both the injury and the
insult were calmly borne by tlie administration,
willing us it was to attribute to the bad temper
and evil genius of Yrujo,and not to the Spanish
nation, the continuance of the diplomatic alter
cation betweeu the two countries.
" Louisiana was purchased, and the question
of limits arose. So long as the Spanish inou
archy rcmaiued unshaken the United States for
bore to take possession of tho disputed territory.
But when Napoleon overturned tho established
order of things, when the empire of Spain exhi
bited a scene of anarchy and revolution in every
quarter ; when the Florida*, in common with
the more extensive Spanish colonies, began t<>
look towards independence, tho mother coun
try, from her own untiappy situation, unable to
repress their efforts, auu when Spain might have
lost forever the very territory in dispute, either
by revolutionary means or from occupancy by
the British, then, and not till then, it was, that
the United States, apprehensive of being depriv
ed of a portion of the soil for winch tliey had
I paid their money, sequestered it intothefr owu
| nunds, not as a conquest, but under stipulations
I of amicable tour ? to be restored or neld, ac
cording to evei il and fair determination*.
I L'ndnr these cii ?instances, how could tho U.
States have do otherwise ?
I t( lu relutio' 10 tlie complaint* of Spain con
! earning the Interference of the United States in
aid of tlie revolutionary party in South and North
; America, it would he well for the chevalier de
Unis to make good the allegations in his letter
to col. Monroe, 1>efore any thing further is ut
tered oil thathcud. It is to her own tyrannical
conduct, and not to the interposition of the U*
States, that are truly to he attributed tlie con
vulsion* that still agitute Iter colonies. A gov
ernment that cramps, by the '
weight of its own diabolical i
and growth of any portion of L_ , ,
ways exprct to be spurned and ditf&fted by
j them at the first lavoi able opportunity. It is
I arrant hypociisy to attempt to lay the blame on
j a foreign power."
colonies, a gov
the insupportable
policy, the genius
its people, may al
Constitution of Indiana.?The ??f govern
ment is fixed at I'orydon lor nine years. The
constitution not subject to amendment until af
ter twelve Vt'At b, in any one of its provisions,
aud never In the one c.vcUtding involuntary *ln
ivry. The executive part of the government is
to be composed of a governor, with a twlary of
one thousand dollar* per annum, to be elected by
the people for three year* and may be re-elected
once?a lieutenant, who is elected in tiko man
ner, for a like term, and is to receive two dot
dollars per diem during the session of the legis
lature. The legislative part, a house of repre
sentatives and senate?tue latter elected every
three years; the former, annually. Any por
tion is eligible for the senate being twenty-live
}rears old?for the lower house twenty-one years,
mlding when elected no office of profit. 'They
are to meet annually on the firxt Monday in
December, except the first session which wilt
ho in November next. The judiciary?a su
preme and circuits?the former, to be composed
of three judges, to be appointed by the gover
nor and senate for tteveii years, to have apel
late jurisdiction, and to sit at the seat of govern
ment, with a galarv of not exceeding 800 dol
lars per iiiiimui?tfi'j latter, to be held in each
county by one presiding judge, who is to he ap
pointed by a joint ballot of the legislature for se
ven years. and two ahsociatex who aro to bo e
lected by the people tor seven years. Sheriffs,
clerks aiid justices are to be elected l?y the poo
plo?the sheriff for three vears, the clerks and
justices for seven yearn. Militia officer* to he
elected by those subject to militia duty.
./ lirciiinn.?The Alexandria Herald of the
I Oth inst. Ltate?, that Jestice Hoffman decided
ion Monday last that all the stockholders of un
incorporated banks were partners, bound jointly
and severally to pay all such paper as might b?
issued by the company or representatives of such
company. Thi* was a case wherein Alexander
Sang.'ter was plaintiff and curtuin stork-holders
of tb? Mechaiitii' Hank defendants.
Caution to parent* aim nurset. We are con
cerned to Mate, that< aptaiu Stewart, ot the na
vy, lost his eldest chil l in consequence of the
nurse administering a quantity of laudanum.?
His youngest child also, was <langeronslv attest
ed from the same cause. Nurses should not Im
allowed to line this dangerous opiate.?I'hll. Unx,
An Irl'hmnn was arraigned before a magis
trate, fur striking an old woman who was not
remarkable for her beauty. The Irishman said
in his dc fence?" May it please your honor, I
met this ould hag in the street, and her face was
so ugly, that by the hill of lloath, I tho't she was
making a mouth at me, so I gave her ? gentle
ulap for Ii'.m impudent?, and please your honor."