Moulding from the various elements of fictitious | Pickle, by Smollett, are nearly of the same characwritings a species of composition entirely anoma- ter. They are replete with vivacity and energy of lous in the history of literature, he broke the spell expression. Their author excels particularly in which hung over the public mind, and formed a delineating the manners of seamen, in whose sonew era in the opinions, manners, and letters of ciety he spent a portion of his youth. But his Europe. The History of Don Quixotte was that style has often been censured as approaching to felicitous conception. Displaying the pretensions bombast, and many of his descriptions as exaggeand exploits of the errant-knight in numberless ri-rated beyond all limits of probability. Profligates, diculous attitudes; illustrating by the power of duellists and misanthropes are characters upon contrast the noble and base side of nature, it per- which he seems delighted to expatiate. The works formed in a few years what the law had in vain of Henry Fielding, though in some respects simiendeavored to accomplish. Bursting upon the lar to those of Smollett, have been allotted to a public from an obscure inmate of a prison, and higher station in this branch of literature. Next to bearing on its face the impress of no common in- Shakspeare, he seems to have questioned from the tellect, it afforded a more exquisite entertainment heart, most successfully, a knowledge of its hermit to its thousand readers than could be derived from policy, and displayed it in his masterly productions. the extravagant phrensies of chivalry. It delighted Endowed with superior natural abilities, refined by the young, and animated the old. In the quaint communion with the choice spirits of antiquity, he language of the author himself,-" this history is entered the sphere of imaginative writing with the most delightful and the least prejudicial en- every means of success. The performances of tertainment that ever was seen; for in the whole Joseph Andrews and Amelia show that he embook, there is not the least shadow of a dishonora-ployed not his talents in vain. ble word, nor one thought unworthy of a good Catholic." It would be improper to dwell, in this short article, upon the master-pieces of Richardson, Sterne, From the great production of Cervantes would Goldsmith, Johnson, Mrs. Radcliffe and others, we date the origin of the new romance. The web who have won a high rank in the department of of fiction then became less complicated, and deeper romantic literature. With Fielding we must close colored with the hue of probability. Instead of this part of our essay. At some future time we hope to consider the works of subsequent authors, who deserve more than a passing notice or hasty comment. selecting their subjects solely from the castle, the temed field, or the witch-haunted cavern, authors began to find among the common incidents of life scenes equally interesting and more instructive. From this model all subsequent productions received a tone. To those writers whose genius partook exclusively of the comic, it pointed out the sure avenues to mirth; and in those who sought to portray the marvellous-the sentimental-the passionate-it served to control undue enthusiasm. Auburn, New-York. HONORS TO THE DEAD. BY WM. G. HOWARD. Beauty doth twine Her votive wreath, and eloquence and song Of the numerous works which soon after appeared in this department of literature, but few acquired a popularity more lasting than the lives of their authors. One, however, which has since become a childhood classic, is Robinson Crusoe, by Defoe. This well known little work derives a Funeral and sepulchral honors have always great share of its interest from the simple descrip- claimed the admiration of mankind. The intion of a passion more innate than love-the desire stance of no tribe nor nation, in ancient nor moof self-preservation. It depicts the horrors of soli- dern times, in savage nor civilized society, furtude, and inculcates, in its own way, sentiments nishes an exception to this universal rule. Imagiwhich should dispel the gloomy dreams of the mis-nation may follow the sun, as he careers in maanthrope. Passing over a few productions of in- jesty and splendor through the broad arch of considerable note, we next mention Gil Blas, by Heaven; but it will find, in all its limitless wanderLe Sage. This work, as its readers well know, ings, no individual, the beatings of whose heart are abounds in humor and ready wit: the description not responsive to this pious sentiment of our naof manners, and the outlines of character, are exe-ture. Turn we to the cairn of the Gael, the cuted with the hand of a master. We cannot af- Scythian tumulus, the Asiatic mausoleum, the pyrafirm, however, that it possesses a pure moral ten-mid of Egypt, or the green hill-top and unlettered dency. The subjects are mostly taken from the headstone of our country's primitive children; they baser class of society, and their faults are not por- constitute so many imperishable and resistless evitrayed in those odious colors which properly be- dences in favor of our position. long to them. Roderick Random and Peregrine Respect and affection for the dead, as expressed would be annihilation in one of its most dreary and repulsive forms. in the solemn pomp with which they were entombed, the black wave of oblivion will ever dash over the and the tasteful memorials that were reared over hallowed repository of our ashes. This truly their remains, existed, in preeminent simplicity and beauty, in the earliest periods of the Jewish history. How touchingly simple and beautiful, for Although the sentiments expressed in the preinstance, is the conference of Abraham, as recorded ceding suggestions, are living influences in every by the pen of inspiration, with the sons of Heth, bosom, and may appear to be, as they emphatically respecting the purchase of the cave of Macpelah are, the genuine offspring of our social constituas a place of interment for the deceased Sarah. tion; yet it is by fully establishing the positive How delicate and affecting is the allusion of the benefits of conferring honors upon the dead, that sacred penman to the death of Rachel, and the re-objections and cavils must be principally repelled. ligious care with which the disconsolate Jacob erected a pillar over the spot of her final repose. "And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day." The descendants of these illustrious patriarchs, when taking their departure from the land of Egypt-for The desire of posthumous honor by some has centuries the bloody arena of their cruel and un- been treated with contempt, and by others has been mitigated bondage--removed from the "consecrated stigmatized with the degrading epithets of weakcatacomb" the ashes of Joseph, their eminent pre-ness and vanity. Yet this same feeling has ever server, and carried them from the "learned and glowed, with peculiar intensity, amid the most magluxurious realm of the Pharaohs"-the grand thea- nificent attainments. It has flourished, indeed, with tre on which he had so gloriously acted-to the the rankest luxuriance, side by side with the noblest iron mountains of the North, that they might honor virtues that have adorned humanity. Geniushis bones with some fitting monument to his me-real, sterling, brilliant genius, cannot exist and act mory. Of the numerous advantages which inevitably result to society from a proper disposition of funeral and sepulchral honors, it will be well particularly to mention the feelings of patriotism they inculcate and cherish. unless in subjection to its control. It was with a Even the savage tribes that wander over the full assurance of this truth, and of its sovereign wastes of Tartary, and repel with scorn the idea authority, that the wise legislators of antiquity used of a settled residence, most tenderly feel, and most every exertion to render such honors subservient piously reverence, the sacred ties of that particular to the public weal. In the very framework of spot, which is hallowed by the monuments of their their laws, they incorporated the most salutary proancestors. Thither they make their annual pilgri- visions on this subject, so sensible were they of its mages, while their hearts soften, and their bosoms vast importance. They knew full well that the glow with sensibility over the ashes of their hon-"sparks of a generous emulation are naturally enored dead. And this constant and distinct Amen, uttered by the wisest and the best, equally with the vilest and most degraded of successive generations, and of every clime, exhibits the most conclusive evidence that this feeling is deeply rooted in the elements of our nature. kindled to a living splendor by memorials of deceased merit." By this powerful enchantment on the minds of posterity did the images of Harmodius and Aristogiton-those immortal defenders of liberty-stand as the "perpetual champions of Athens," and for ages keep alive the holy flame on the altar of freedom. The original and irrepressible desire, that the alluvion of time may not obliterate our image from Trained in the centre of circumstances like the memory of surviving friends, but that it may these; with every thing calculated to awaken into be choicely garnered up in the storehouse of the action the noblest feelings of their nature; living affections of those who live after us, to be recalled, in a ceaseless contemplation of the honors conferwith a melancholy pleasure, long after the turf has red upon the illustrious dead; with the various evisodded upon our graves, is one of the strongest dences of a nation's gratitude incessantly before passions that can agitate the human breast. The their sight; the ancients instinctively imbibed the most remote apprehension, that all remembrances pious zeal of their forefathers. The triumphal of ourselves and our virtues will be as ephemeral arches-the fretted columns-the images of the as the existence of these perishable bodies, would be more than sufficient to render the pilgrimage of life a scene of bitterness and woe. "For who, to dull forgetfulness a prey, Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?" great and good-the eulogy and the elegy,—all threw around the eye and the heart a sacred fascination; "while their marble ancestors seemed starting into life, and beckoning them on to fame and immortality." Hence the bold ambition of every generation to contest the palm with their immortal progenitors. From this source flowed the manly tears of a rival Alexander over the sepulchre of Achilles. And the influence of these testimonials of a na tion's gratitude, are not, at the present day, sensi- | life, and sets before us the image of eternal rest." bly diminished. They still operate with tremen"Hark! how the sacred calm, that breathes around, dous power upon the genius of a people. The Bids every fierce, tumultuous passion cease; same anxiety that the memory should be embalmed In still small accents, whispering from the ground, in the records of history and the treasures of song, A grateful earnest of eternal peace." or that the name should be "enchased in giant Here it is that we learn the import and beauty of characters upon the everlasting flint," which swelled that "wonderful specimen of elegiac eloquence :" the hearts and nerved the arms of those, who lived Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest rein the “tide of time” centuries agone, still lives in turn ye children of men!" What a perfect and the breasts of men, and exerts the same effects upon inimitable illustration of the divine aphorismtheir conduct. The monumental obelisk, towering "Our life is vapor!" faint, indeed, as the wreath in stately and awful sublimity, and holding in sa- that just appears on the mountain side, and then cred deposit the dust of some canonized worthy, vanishes in the sunbeam. And now, if ever, we can hardly be surveyed, by the meanest individual, are impressed with our need of that "sublime and without expanding his heart with the inspiriting re-consoling philosophy," that shines in such vivid collection, that by equal deserts he may insure for light from the pages of the Word of God, and ilhimself an equal immortality. With what emotions lumes the darkness of the tomb with the felicities of rapture and veneration do we gaze upon the and glories of a new heaven and a new earth.⚫ "mingled grace and dignity and divine expression" of the noble bust of Washington, whose marble brow reflects the exalted virtues of his heart. These scenes of “august and sacred imagery," are, indeed, a school for the public mind. They are the “national galleries," furnished and adorned, not with specimens of rare art, but with monuments of exalted worth. Who can stand by the sepulchres, within whose speechless walls are inurned the ashes of the mighty dead, and not be inflamed with a quenchless longing to be enrobed in the mantle of their virtues? As we mingle our tears of sorrow and regret upon the "silent yet eloquent marble," that bends in lines of grace and beauty over their remains, we are brought at once to a perception of History and Poetry, Biography and Eulogium, our common allotment, and are taught to realize which are embraced in the scope of our subject, our own mortality. In the midst of our gratulapeople memory with the distinguished millions of tion that such men have lived, we shall have bepast ages. They give us a bird's-eye view of the fore us the memorial that such men have died. orators and patriots-the philosophers and poets-"Indeed the mausoleum and the statue seem to the great and good, of by-gone centuries. How form a kind of gloomy frontier between the two correctly was it said of the Greek and the Ro-worlds-the great world of the living, and the man-"half our learning is their epitaph." And greater world of the dead." There is about them the fact, that the recorded exploits of their states- an eloquence and poetry of feeling, fathomless and men and heroes have imparted a generous enthu- mysterious as the seats of life. siasm to the reader, and inspired the bosom with a longing for the same glorious distinction, has caused the literature of those countries to flow, like a sea of glory, over all succeeding ages. Another and a still more important advantage arising from the honors of the dead, is that they render us peculiarly susceptible of religious impressions. Whenever we cross the threshold of the consecrated cemetery, we are forcibly impressed with the weakness and the frailty of human life. Who that has wandered among its gloomy and sequestered aisles, has been able to suppress those thrilling emotions that force themselves upon the heart? With what fleetness do we hurry, in imagination, across the hours of advancing time, and lose ourselves amid those stupendous realities to which we must pass through the gateway of the grave! How irresistible is the conviction at such an hour, that our tomb will, one day, be to us the threshold of happiness or woe! The great resting place of the dead, dotted over as it is with frail memorials to perpetuate the names of those that are sleeping quietly beneath the sod, presents to us at once"the termination of the inquietudes of Thus are funeral and sepulchral honors the fruitful source of the highest political and religious advantages. They shine, like an unfading rainbow, above the columns of life's darkness, and beyond the rage of its tempests, to awe and allure. Possessing in their very nature a spring of honorary incentives, unequalled in purity and sublimity, and throwing an affecting and inspiring charm over the soul, the state may call in requisition the constant exertions of its choicest spirits. Thus will the spontaneous emotions of our nature become the grand means of exalting and purifying it. And thus will the honors of the dead, empty and transitory as we are wont to call them, reflect solid and lasting and glorious benefit on the living. Chilicothe, Ohio, 1841. Byron, we believe, is the author of the following couplet on a selfish politician, who committed his speeches to memory: "C has no heart, you say-but I deny it; THE RESPONSE. I come. I come. I hear thy voice; and the wild ocean's roar Sister, I come. I heard that her mind and person had each striven for the mastery of beauty. I met her for the first time in an assembly of the young and happy. When I spake to her, she listened with a "flitting blush" and gazed into my face, O how sweetly! Poetry and music were the themes of our discourse. The parting hour came, and I bade her a fond good-night. I lay upon my bed, tossing to and fro with a strange excitement, and sleep came not to my relief. At length, I was quieted, began to doze, and my eyelids closed. I felt a gentle pressure like the tiny hand of a spirit, and they were re-opened. And lo! a little creature with pure white wings, gleaming in the moonlight, was reclining upon my pillow. It was laughing as if it would die with joy, but in a moment more, subduing its features, and looking serious, it pointed to a star just visible through my window, and exclaimed "Mortal! see you that little gem sparkling in the deep blue ocean of the sky? It is an emblem of that fair being, whose image is so deeply en* This tender and affecting appeal is from the pen of a night beheld and looked upon as one of the most graved upon thy heart; the same, whom you this young lady of Philadelphia, and was among her earliest essays in Poetry. It first appeared in a Philadelphia newslovely of earth's daughters. But I warn you to paper, some four years since; but attracted little attention beware! If you wish to live a life of peace, trifle until, having crossed the Atlantic, it returned with the un-not with that delicate passion which men call lore. qualified commendations of the English press. Then, and The maiden whose affection you desire, is too not till then, we are loth to concede, its merits were ap- pure, too beautiful for one like you. preciated at home, and then this single certificate sufficed that because she smiled upon you, you are the faThink not, to introduce our authoress into the choir of our sweetest minstrels. It is very pretty; and "The Response," by one vored one. As yonder star is admired by all who of our contributors, will be found consonant in spirit to the behold it, and in return sheds its smiles upon the spirit of the Invocation.-[Ed. Mess. world, even so, does the dark-eyed reign in the firmament of earth, bestowing her smiles upon | fect of many of his statements is calculated to prothe multitude. The youth who wins her love, duce erroneous and injurious impressions upon the must be one of the gifted and noble-hearted. Therefore I say, think not, dream not, sigh not for her, who has, perchance, already ceased to remember thy name." I awoke. The star still shone in heaven, unmoved and immovable. It looked upon me in kindness and in love. I know not whence it came, but something whispered in my ear, "hope on, hope ever," and then, I slumbered peacefully. Land of Dreams, 1840. public mind, it is proposed, with your permission, to examine them in some detail. Want of leisure as well as regard for your columns will induce us to be as brief as will comport with the nature of such an examination. The example of "Harry Bluff" will be followed in avoiding all personalities, as far as practicable; and in the comments upon his opinions, statements or propositions, our remarks will be intended for an officer of the Navy, as yet unknown, who has exercised the right of presenting his views to the public. Anonymous communications are sometimes preferable to others, especially if the relations between the parties are such as may bring the writers into subsequent official intercourse. His example in this particular also will therefore be followed, and the writer of these remarks merely claims the consideration which may be due to their intrinsic merits, and as the production of an officer, whose length of service may perhaps place him in the class usually designated as the "Senior Officers." REPLY TO HARRY BLUFF. [The "reply to Harry Bluff" is, we have reason to behieve from one high in authority; and we give it a place principally on that account. It may be too, some little matter of curiosity with many of our readers, to have the views of "senior officers" of the Navy, on its wants and present condition; and to know their opinions of Harry Bluff's Lucky Bag. Considering that the Navy has lingered so long in its present state, partly from the circumstance that there has been no one to propose any measures The advantages which may be expected from for its reorganization upon which a majority of the officers higher grades in the Navy have been frequently could agree, and considering that Harry Bluff has been presented to the notice of Congress and the public, the first to propose a plan for that purpose upon which a but hitherto without success. It may appear ridimajority of the officers are willing to unite,-the friends and well-wishers of the Navy have a right to expect that culous to suppose that the usual designation of those who oppose this plan will not prove mere fault-find- such grades should ever have operated against their ers, but that they will show the reasons of their opposition, establishment or recognition, and yet it has been and offer substitutes for the measures which they condemn. urged as being too aristocratical for our instituThis C. S. has not done, unless indeed his proposition tions. The title of General is familiar, whilst that about the 1300 Midshipmen with their 24 years apprentice ship, be intended by him as a substitute for Harry Bluff's of Admiral, though merely its equivalent, is complan for supplying the Navy with young men for Lieuten-monly associated and improperly confounded with ants. We profess to be friendly to the Navy, and desire the titles of other nations which belong to a privito see it placed upon a proper footing. Towards this end leged class. May we hope that this unfounded we shall do all that in us lies. With this one object in prejudice will soon be dispelled? view, we shall exercise the right of appending by way of note to the remarks of C. S. such brief observations as in our opinion may appear proper and just. In throwing our columns open to the Navy we by no means wished it to be understood that the pages of the Messenger may become an arena for personal disputation. To prevent the possibuty of that, we have judged it proper to omit a few lines which may be considered to be of a personal nature in tais communication. This explanation is due here to C. S. as he has not informed us of his address; and we have no other means of communicating with him.]—Ed. Sou. Lit. Mess. The charge made against the government, of not employing a sufficient Naval force to give proper protection to the commerce of the country, appears not to be so well founded [See Note A] as to receive general assent. That it has not been sufficient to provide a proper number of competent, well-trained officers for a force which might be necessary at the commencement of war, may be true, and will be noticed hereafter. The amount of force for the mere protection of commerce in a time of peace, need never be large. With civilized nations, among which commerce is almost exclusiveEditor of the Southern Literary Messenger. ly carried on, moral force is as powerful and more SIR:-The recent essays upon the Navy which appropriate than physical. The commander of a have appeared in your journal over the signature single vessel of the United States, when authoof "Harry Bluff," have received a wide circulation, rized by national law to protest against a meditated and appear to have met with general commenda- wrong or to claim reparation for an infringement of tion. Though we concur in several of the views our national rights, acts for and represents the which he has taken, yet entertaining an opinion power of the whole country, and so long as he that some of the defects of which he complains does not transcend his lawful privileges and powers, are without real foundation, and that others have his representations will be received as the represenbeen much exaggerated, and that the general ef- tations of the country, and be respected accordingly. To MR. T. W. WHITE, VOL. VII-27 |