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in vain be implored him to save his character and his life by withdrawing his prosecution: this flinty-hearted young nobleman, then only just arrived at man's estate, a period of life when all the finest feelings are generally too acutely awake, and prudence and self-interest scarcely yet roused, could, unmoved, behold his old preceptor kneeling at his feet, and could coldly turn from him, leaving him to all the misery of despair and anticipated disgrace. Had the sympathy of the whole assembly been of any avail against his Lordship's cruelty, the unfortunate man would have been spared to benefit society by the edifying example of a repentant sinner, instead of being offered up as a victim to public justice, a shrine at which so many sacrifices are annually made, apparently without producing either warning or amendment. A very different spirit possessed Mr. Manby of the Temple, when Doctor Dodd was brought before him. Significantly showing the bond to the Doctor, be laid it on the table, and went and looked out of the window; but the Doctor had not the presence of mind to seize the opportunity thus afforded him of destroying it. I think in such a case I should have gone one step farther than Mr. Manby: I should have warned the Doctor not to put the bond into the fire, when my back was turned, as I should then have no evidence against him.

The next, a good joke, is heat but abstruse.

Col. Dillon seemed formed by nature for the command of an army. He was six feet high, singularly handsome, and combined in his manner all the spirit of a soldier with the gallantry of a courtier. One day, in helping the beautiful Marie Antoinette on horseback, he fixed his eyes intently on her green slippers; she laughingly asked him why he noticed them; "Because," said he, "they are so appropriate to the wearer, who has all the world at her feet."

In 1780, Mr. Brasbridge took up arms against the rioters. Kennet, the Lord Mayor, of course comes in for a page or two.

Mr. Kennet had begun life as a waiter, and his manners never rose above his original station. When he was summoned to be examined in the House, one of the members wittily observed, "If you ring the bell,

His

Mr. Kennet will come of course." excuse for his behaviour was, that being attacked both before and behind, he was seized with a fit of temerity, which made bim not know what he was about. One evening at the Alderman's Club, he was at the whist-table; and Mr. Alderman Pugh, a dealer in soap, and an extremely goodnatured man, was at his elbow, smoking his pipe. "Ring the bell, Soap-suds," said Mr. Kennet, in his coarse way. "Ring it your

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self, Bar," replied the Alderman, ' you have been twice as much used to it as I have." Mr. Pugh was another of the instances of successful industry with which our metropolis abounds. He originally came to town in the humble capacity of drawer and porter at the Hoop and Bunch of Grapes, in Hatton Garden. He then went to live with Alderman Benn, to take care of his horse and cart; and for his good conduct was admitted as under clerk in the counting-house; and, being a married man, his master augmented his salary, in the sum of ten pounds, on the birth of every child. He was afterwards taken into partnership, &c.

The day of the King going to St. Paul's is a great day with the historian, and the following anecdote of the then Prince of Wales is rather drily related.

My chiefest ornament was Mrs. Aylmer, the wife of a captain in the royal navy; ful symmetry of form attracted the notice whose perfect beauty of features and gracetime Prince of Wales; as he looked up to of our present beloved monarch, at that the windows, and gazed on her with all the admiration which not his bitterest enemies could ever accuse him of withholding from the fair sex.

Brasbridge is a famous anecdotist.

When the Talents came into power, they turned out every body that they could, even Lord Sandwich, the Master of the Stag Hounds. The King met his Lordship in his ride soon after. "How do, how do," cried his Majesty; "so they have turned you off; it was not my fault, upon my honour, for it was as much as I could do to keep my own place."

The volume now approaches its end. It is the consolation of growing old to talk of what we can remember when we were young. I recollect the first broadwheeled waggon that was used in Oxfordshire, and a wondering crowd of spectators it attracted. I believe at that time there was not a post-chaise in England excepting two-wheeled ones. Lamps to carriages are also quite a modern improvement. A shepherd, who was keeping sheep, in the vicinity of a village in Oxfordshire, came running all aghast, to say, that a frightful monster with saucer eyes, and making a great blowing noise, was coming towards the village, at such a rate that he could scarcely keep before it.

We extract the following for the benefit of several of our readers; aye, and writers too, mayhap!

I must now take the privilege of an old man, to caution my young readers against falling into the practice of smoking, the of all kinds of intoxication. I have heard idlest of all amusements, and the stupidest

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'BEYOND, beyond that boundless sea

Above that dome of sky,

Further than thought itself can flee,

Thy dwelling is on high:
Yet, dear the awful thought to me,
That thou, my God, art nigh-

'Art nigh, and yet my labouring mind Feels after Thee in vain,

Thee in these works of power to find,
Or to Thy seat attain.
Thy messenger, the stormy wind,
Thy path, the trackless main-

'These speak of Thee with loud acclaim; They thunder forth thy praise,le The glorious honour of thy name,

The wonders of Thy ways:
But Thou art not in tempest-flame,
Nor in day's glorious blaze.

'We hear thy voice, when thunders roll
Through the wide fields of air.
The waves obey Thy dread control;
Yet still thou art not there.
Where shall I find Him, O my soul,

Who yet is every where ?

'Oh, not in circling depth, or height,
But in the conscious breast,
Present to faith, though veil'd from sight,
There does His Spirit rest.
O come, thou Presence Infinite,
And make thy creature blest."

(The same.)

TO THE NIGHTINGALE.

'O wondrous bird! thy varied measure,

The very soul of pleasure,

Who but an unblest lover could
Have fancied set in minor mood?
Who but the votary of folly
Have call'd it melancholy?

BY J. CONDER.

To me that song denotes no less Than mirth and inborn happiness, That dreams the peaceful night away In living o'er the joys of day. To me it a long tale unravels, Of airy voyages, Persian travels, Gay pranks in summer's fairest bowers, And broken hearts among the flowers; And then of England's landscape mild, Spring's virgin beauties undefiled, Her violet-banks, her blue-bell glades, Her daisied meads, her greenwood shades, The hedge-rows where the May is blooming, With tenderest scent the air perfuming,

The stream through richest pastures winding,

And tender corn,-of these reminding,
It seems to speak of all to me
In vocal poetry.

'And but that mortal men must sleep,
Pleased I my station here could keep
The live-long night, a list'ning to thy tale.
But ever wakeful nightingale,

When dost thou suspend thy numbers,
And yield to quiet slumbers?
The lark, beyond his usual hours,
Contending with thee from the sky,
Seems exerting all his powers,
Singing of corn, and thou of flowers-
Thou beneath, and be on high,
A fugue of wondrous melody.
Thou'lt sing him down, and he so quiet
Under the wheat, in lowly nest,
Will marvel at thy tuneful riot,
Breaking his gentle partner's rest.
But when his matin-bell he springs
At earliest dawn, untired thy skill,
While his loud orisons he sings,

He'll hear thee at thy vespers still.'

IT.

SKETCHES OF THE FIVE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS,

AND OF

THE FIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

From the Memoranda of a Traveller.

T is a great mistake to suppose that the policy of the American government will not be materially influenced by the character of the next President. All nations are more or less determined in their course of dealing, at home and abroad, by the moral and intellectual character of their chief magistrates, whatever may be their title, rank, or authority. The Americans always have been so, and always will be so, whatever they may imagine to the contrary. A bird's-eye view of the successive administrations of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Munroe, will establish this proposition in part; and, as we are justified in expecting like effects from like causes, and that what has been will be again,if the first part of the proposition be established, the latter will seem to be a legitimate inference.

I have no disposition to meddle with the domestic economy of nations; nor with what is considered the tea-table politics of any country; but it is pleasant to observe the influences of both upon the great human family, and to show ourselves wiser than our neighbours, in tracing any effect to a cause that has been perpetually overlooked by other men.

This is one of those cases. The character of the American government, from the day of its first organization, has been little else than the character of the man highest in office for the time. And yet the politicians of Europe would tell us, that it is a matter of no moment to the world, whether Mr. A, B, C, or D, is to become the next President of the United States; and the Americans, themselves, have never suspected, and never will admit, that the character of their chief executive officer is, in reality, the character of the government.

For my own part, I do not scruple to say, that I could tell under whose administration any important law had passed, or any important treaty had been entered into by the American people, on hearing it read for the first time, although the date were not men

tioned, solely from my knowledge of the five individuals, who have been five successive Presidents.

WASHINGTON, the first President, made the government like himself, cautious, uniform, simple and substantial, without show or parade. While he presided, nothing was done for effectevery thing from principle. There was no vapouring and no chivalry about it. Whatever was done or said, was done or said with great deliberation, and profound seriousness.

Mr. ADAMS was the second President. He was quite another sort of man. He was more dictatorial, more adventurous; and, perhaps, more of a statesman. But look to the record of his administration, and you find the natural temper of the man distinctly visible in all the operations of the gov ernment,up to the very moment when he overthrew himself and his whole party by his hazardous political movements.

The cautious neutrality of Washington, which obtained for him, in the cabinet, what had already been awarded to him in the field-the title of the American Fabius-was abandoned, by Mr. Adams, for a more bold and presumptuous aspect, bearing and attitude. The quiet dignity and august plainness of the former, was put aside for something more absolute and regal. The continuance of the American government under Washington, throughout all its foreign negotiations, and domestic administration, was erect and natural, very strong, simple and grave. But, under Mr. Adams, although it appeared loftier and more imposing, and attracted more attention, it had a sort of theatrical look, and was, in reality, much less formidable.

Then came Mr. JEFFERSON. He was the third President. He was, undoubtedly, a man of more genius than either of his predecessors. His talent was finer, but not so strong. He was a scholar and a philosopher, full of theory and hypothesis. And what was the character of his administration? Was it not wholly given up to theory and

hypothesis, experiment and trial? He turned the whole of the United States into a laboratory-a workshop-a lecture-room; and kept the whole country in alarm with his demonstrations in political economy, legislation, mechanics, and government. Hence it is, that, to this day, it is difficult to determine whether his administration, on the whole, was productive of great benefit or great evil to the American people. The most extraordinary changes, transmutations, and phenomena, were continually taking place before their eyes; but they were, generally, unintelligible, so that he left the country pretty much in the situation that his fame at Montecello is at this moment -altogether transformed from its natural state-altogether different from what it was, when he took it in hand —a puzzle and a problem to the world. To him succeeded Mr. MADISONthe fourth American President. He was altogether of a different constitution-loquacious, plausible, adroit, and subtile. Out of his administration grew the war between his country and this. It has been a question much agitated among many sensible men, and respectable politicians, whom I have known in different countries whether Mr. Madison, whose temper was neither quarrelsome nor warlike, really wished for, and promoted, and expedited the war, or not? I have heard the same question warmly debated among his countrymen and friends. They had, probably, never seen, or had overlooked the significance of a paper in the "Federalist," (a work produced by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Madison, in defence of the constitution then about to be adopted by the American people)-written by Mr. Madison himself, when a young man, in which he shows, plainly and convincingly, how vast an augmentation of patronage, and, of course, power, the President of the United States would derive from a state of war. No man saw it so clearly at the time-no man remembered it, after the debate was over, so distinctly, and no man could have profited by it more resolutely than did Mr. Madison, when he came to be what, when he foretold the evil,

he had no more idea of being, than he has now of being an Emperor-the President of the United States, with ample power to fulfil the prophecy.

The next, and last of the American Presidents, is Mr. MUNROE, a remarkably plain, sensible man-very honest, and, but for this last message of his, which is wholly unlike any thing that he has ever written, or said, or done before, I should be inclined to think of a very prudent, cold, and phlegmatic temperament. Yet, what is his administration, but a history of the man himself-or rather a biography?

If all this be true, have we no interest in understanding the true character of the five men, out of whom the next President of the United States will be chosen? My opinion is, that we have, and that we ought to have,and therefore I shall give a sketch, first, of the President now in office, and then, of the five candidates, out of whom one will be chosen to succeed him.

Mr. Munroe, the actual President at this time, is an old-fashioned-looking man, whose manner is a compound of natural, strong simplicity, and artifi cial courtesy, He is very awkward, and very affable; with a countenance and address so distinguished for substantial good sense, and downright honesty-like that which we oftentimes meet with in humble life among the uneducated, that if you should encounter him accidentally, in the company of men of the world, without knowing him, you would take him for a sensible man, quite unaccustomed to such society, and altogether above the folly and affectation of imitating them. But, let some one tell you that this sensible, uneducated man, is no less a personage than the President of the United States, and you would be likely to discover something almost awful in his plainness of manner; something, before whose quiet rebuke the grandeur and beauty of courtly bearing would fall away, like affectation. Yet is it not so ?-Mr. Munroe is really an awkward man; and so are most of the candidates, at this moment, “all, all awkward men."

And yet his acquired courtesy, and a sort of farmer-like, or republican cor

diality, which, being tempered with much gravity and reserve, induces you to think that more is meant than said, operate upon those who see him, very like that insincere, graceful, and flattering manner, which we look for in the European courtier; and have made it a common remark throughout the United States, and particularly in the city of Washington, that an unsuccessful applicant will come away better satisfied with Mr. Munroe, than a successful one will from Mr. Adams, the present Secretary of State.

I paid this gentleman, (Mr. Munroe) a visit once, on the very evening before he was to send a message to Congress. The front of his house, which is really quite a palace, was entirely dark there were no lamps lighted, no servants in waiting, and I had to find my way as I could among the marble pillars, and over the broad marble pavement of the great hall, into the private study of the President. I was quite struck with the appearance of every thing I saw there the man himself the furniture-and the conversation were all of a piece, and rather out of keeping, I thought, with the marble chimney-piece, and magnificent ceiling and carpeting. There were a couple of common candles,-tallow, I dare say, lighted upon his table, and the furniture, though costly, was very plain and substantial. In fact there was an air of rigorous economy about all the decorations of the room, except those which were furnished by the Congress and the economy too, not of a chief magistrate, so much as of a private gentleman, who had neither the power nor the disposition to be more prodigal.

And now for the candidates. Mr. CALHOUN, the present Secretary of War (or Minister of War,) is one of the five, and the youngest among them. He has distinguished himself in Congress, by his intrepid eloquence, and, in the cabinet, by some bold and able, but hazardous undertakings. He is nearly six feet in height, walks very erect, so that his stature appears even greater than that has very dark expressive eyes: high cheek-bones, and a square forehead, with a physiognomy

rather of the Scotch character: talks with singular rapidity and vehemence, when at all excited, and electioneers more barefacedly, and with less address, than any other of the five candidates. He is too young a man for the office, and has little or no chance of success: he is very ambitious, and fully aware of the consequences if he should fail. His adversaries say that he will jump before he comes to the still; and must clear the passage, or be thrown out for ever. They are probably right. But if he should be elected, and it is quite possible, though not probable that he will be, he will seek to distinguish his administration by Such a very high-handed measures. course would be natural to most ambitious young men, who find it easier to design than imitate; pleasanter to open a new path for themselves, than to follow any that another has opened; and a much finer thing to suggest a great improvement, for another to carry into execution, than to assist in consummating the plans of another, particularly in a government, which, on account of the quick rotation in of fice, will seldom permit any one man both to originate and consummate any great political measure.

Mr. CRAWFORD, the Secretary of the Treasury, (corresponding with our Chancellor of the Exchequer,) is the second candidate. He is a tall, stately man, more than six feet high, and large in proportion. He was a schoolmaster; and, it is said, has killed his man, a circumstance not at all against him with the Southern Americans, but very much so among the men of New England, who reprobate duelling as absolute murder. Mr. Crawford is fuller of political resources than Mr. Calhoun, and manages his cards more adroitly; but then his enemies, and those who are opposed to him, are men of a more serious temper, and a more steady determination, than those of Mr. Calhoun. Their opposition to Mr. Crawford is chiefly that of principle; and not political, so much as moral principle; while their objection to Mr. Calhoun grows chiefly out of his youth, temper, and indiscretion. The influ enec of Mr. Crawford's character,

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