ページの画像
PDF
ePub

The noble bucks his rifle had brought down-
How living rattle-snakes he took to town.

His dog's exploits-the glory of his kind!
Now gash'd by bears, and lame, and almost blind.
Display'd his hat, with bullet-holes o'errun,
To prove the many matches he had won.
On powder, rifles, locks and balls enlarg'd,
And a whole broadside on his art discharg❜d.
The mother spun, the children snor'd around,
And Sock the landlord still fresh stories found;
Our nodding heads the power of sleep confest,
And the kind hunter led us to our rest.
(To be continued.)

FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

BURK'S GARDEN GRAVE.

John Daly Burk fell in a duel at Petersburg, Virginia, and lies buried in the garden of general Jones's villa, about a mile from the

town.

I CLIMBED the high hills of the dark Appamatox,

The stream poured its waters the wild woods among,

All was still save the dash of the surge from the white rocks,

Where the seafowl indulged in his tremulous song.

On my right, where the poplars, with fair branches gleaming,
Half embosom the high-vaulted villa of Jones,

On the tombstone of Daly the liquid sun streaming,

Marked the spot where the bard had found rest for his bones

Oh! rare is the spot hung with clustering roses,
Where Virginia's sweet minstrel is gone to his rest,
For the sun's parting ray on his grave oft reposes,
And the redbreast delights there to build her soft nest
And oft shall the damsels with bosoms high swelling,
Whose ruby lips sweetly his soft stanzas sing,
Dejected repair to the bard's narrow dwelling,
And deck the raised turf with the garlands of spring..

SELECTED.

HYMN TO THE EVENING STAR.

From the Greek of Callistratus.

Mild star of eve! whose tranquil beams
Are grateful to the queen of love,
Fair planet, whose effulgence beams
More bright than all the host above,
And only to the moon's clear light,
Yields the first honours of the night.

All hail! thou soft, thou holy star!
Thou glory of the midnight sky!

And when my steps are wandering far,
Leading the shepherd minstrelsy,
Then if the moon deny her ray,
Oh! guide me, Hesper, on my way.

No savage robber of the dark,
No foul assassin claims thy aid,
To guide his dagger to its mark,

Or light him on his plundering trade,
My gentle errand is to prove
The transports of requited love.

OBITUARY.

To record the worth and virtues of departed friends, is a grateful, though melancholy, duty. Among the various biographical sketches which daily meet the eye, there can be few, if any, more deserving of notice and respect, than the following affectionate tribute to the memory of the late JUDGE SMITH.

This gentleman was a native of North Britain, whence he emigrated in early life to this continent. On the 9th of February, 1769, he was appointed deputy surveyor of an extensive frontier district, and established his residence at the town of Bedford. In the execution of his official duties, he displayed integrity and abilities which could not have been exceeded. His fi delity in this important and interesting trust, was so strongly marked, that no individual has been able to complain of injury; and exemption from law suits, and certainty of titles to property, have been almost the invariable re

sult. So high was his sense of honour, so inflexible his principles of justice, that he would never suffer even suspicion to cast a shade over his official character. His private interests yielded to the firmness of his mind; and although landed property was then so eaily to be acquired, he scrupulously avoided all speculation, determined that the desire of gain should neither warp his rectitude, nor give birth to jealousy in others.

When the county of Bedford was erected, he received commissions from the then proprietors, to excute the offices of prothonotary, clerk of the sessions, orphan's courts, and recorder of deeds for that county; and such was the uniform tenor of his conduct as to insure the respect, esteem and attachment of all who had any transactions with him.

At the commencement of the late revolution, he zealously espoused the cause of his adopted country, and at the head of his regiment of militia performed his tour of duty in her service; and his attachment to the liberties and independence of these United States was inviolable. By the citizens of his county he was chosen to represent them in the convention which formed the first constitution of this commonwealth, but it is just to add, that instrument did not meet his entire approbation. As a member of the legislature, frequently elected, his talents were useful, his exertions and industry unremitted; and, when, towards the close of the revolutionary war, he was appointed to represent this state in congress, he carried with him into that body the same invaluable qualities, the same firm and inflexible integrity.

The law was his profession, and he practised with industry and success; seeking to do justice, but abhorring iniquity and oppression, never greedy of gain, he was moderate in receiving the honourable reward of his professional services. He was a father to those who confided in him however poor or afflicted. He delighted to encourage merit and virtue, wherever he found them; but he exposed with severity, violence, fraud, and iniquity, whether clothed in rags, or shrouded behind the mantle of wealth or influence. To those who sought it, he gave honest and sound advice in questions of law according to the best of his skill and judgment. He discouraged law suits, and scorned to foment litigation for the sake of gain. He may have frequently erred; more frequently may have been deceived by statements imposed upon him by clients; but he never, knowingly, recommended the prosecution of an unjust cause.

When the judiciary department, under the present constitution of Pennsylvania, was organized, he was appointed president of the district composed of the counties of Cumberland, Mifflin, Huntingdon, Bedford and Franklin; in which office he continued, until upon the resignation of Mr. Bradford, he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. The arduous du ties of both those stations, he performed with skill and integrity. He spared not himself in sickness or in health -he shrunk from no labour or fatigue. Although his constitution was wearing away, his high sense of duty foreclosed from his view his approaching danger; or though he beheld it, it appeared to

him trivial in comparison with what he considerd the obligations of conscience. He never tasted the bread of idleness; nor would he have touched the emoluments of office, if unable to perform its duties. But he sunk under this too zealous attention to rigid duty, at an age not greatly advanced; and when by a little indulgence and self denial (most surely justifiable) he might yet have been spared to his afflicted family.

The expressions of his features were apparently austere : his outward manners were not marked with grace or softness. In conversation, his sentiments were delivered with blunt sincerity: and were sometimes supposed, by those who knew him not, to designate the character of harshness; but his heart was replete with the finest qualities which could dorn it: humane, benevolent, and just; in his friendships ardent and sincere; and his acts of friendship executed with peculiar delicacy and grace. In all his dealings he was scrupulously exact, and there exists no man who can truly say, he has received from him an injury. Those who knew him well will not hesitate to acknowledge the correctness of this brief eulogium on departed worth.

To his family his loss is irreparable—as a husband and a father, he was affectionate, mild, indulgent. The happiness of his family was the great object of his life-Domestic harmony reigned in his household. His mansion was the abode of hospitality-long, very long will his loss be mourned-the me mory of his virtues will remain as their sweetest consolation; but the deepfelt sorrows of his afflicted widow and children cannot recall the husband, father, friend.

DIED on the 11th of May last, after a short but painful illness, in the 46th year of his age, Mr. JAMES SIMMONS of this city.

Scarcely have we recorded an instance of death more fully calculated to impress the mind with the uncertainty of human life, than the present. Enjoying every happiness which a state of the most perfect health, supported by a constitution uncommonly vigorous, could afford, the deceased saw himself in the meridian of life, surrounded by a young family who had just attained an age, at which they more particularly required the attentions and guidance of parental affection and authority. But, from this scene of temporal interests and felicity, he was hurried in the short space of three days, to a state,

"Where momentary ages are no more!

"Where Time, and Pain, and Chance, and Death expire."

By an extensive circle of relatives and friends, the deceased was well known and beloved: as a parent, he was to an unusual degree kind and tender, as a husband he was affectionate, as a Son dutiful; to the poor he was charitable, to the world polite; and his manners possessed all that pleasing unbanity, which obtain, for a gentleman, the esteem of society.

TO READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.

WITH the request of "JUVENIS" we cannot comply with a better grace, than by citing the classical canons of an OXFORD SCHOLAR, who exemplified all his correct rules by his splendid example; and, who, when but a boy, wrote with all the purity of CowPER and GOLDSMITH. The rules of Composition are, in fact, very simple and very few. If we have a mature acquaintance with our subject, there is little fear of our expressing it as we ought, provided we have had some little experience in writing. The first thing to be aimed at is Perspicuity. That is the great point, which, once attained, will make all other obstacles smooth to us. In order to write perspicuously, we should have a perfect knowledge of the topic, on which we are about to treat, in all its bearings, and dependences. We should think well, beforehand, what will be the clearest method of conveying the drift of our design. This is similar to what Painters call the massing, or getting the effect of the more prominent lights and shades by broad dashes of the pencil. When our thesis is well arranged in our mind, and we have predisposed our arguments, reasonings, and illustrations, so as they shall all conduce to the object in view, in regular sequence and gradation, we may sit down and express our ideas in as clear a manner as we'can, always using such words, as are most suited to our purpose; and when two modes of expression, equally luminous, present themselves, selecting that which is the most harmonious and elegant.

It sometimes happens that writers, in aiming at perspicuity, overreach themselves, by employing too many words, and perplex the mind, by a multiplicity of illustrations. This is a very fatal error. Circumlocution seldom conduces to plainness; and you may take it as a maxim that, when once an idea is clearly expressed, every additional stroke will only confuse the mind and diminish the effect.

When we have once learned to express ourselves with clearness and propriety, we shall soon arrive at elegance. Every thing else, in fact, will follow as of course. But let not the order of things be inErted, nor let the graces be courted when we should be studying perspicuity. Young writers, in general, are too solicitous to round off their periods, and regulate the cadences of their style. Hence, the feeble pleonasms and idle repetitions, which deform their pages. If we would have our compositions vigorous and masculine in their tone, let EVERY WORD TELL, and when we detect ourselves polishing off a sentence with expletives, we should compare ourselves with a minor poet, eking out the measure of his verses, with all a ballad maker's tautology.

[blocks in formation]
« 前へ次へ »