tions, in which the cerebral hemispheres have received their full development. The republics of Greece and Rome, of Italy in the middle ages, of Switzerland and United States of America, have shown us what the human race can effect, when animated by these sacred feelings--without which, nothing has ever been achieved truly great or permanently interesting. This is the charm, that attaches us to the history, the laws, the institutions, the literature of the free states of antiquity--and that enables us to study again and again, with fresh pleasure, the lives and actions of their illustrious patriots." after year, and century after century, plodding on in the same beaten path, with no inventions in the arts or discoveries in science to mark and distinguish their progress—resembling in this respect the brute creation-Holland, the limited monarchy of England, and the which, guided by instinct, never excels or falls short of the skill displayed by their predecessors, rather than rational beings-endowed with natures susceptible of continued and indefinite advancement. A single glance at the history and present situation of any European nation, will present in vivid colors the great difference between them and the Chinese in this particular. Look at the English, the French, or the Germans-five hundred years since, they were perhaps, little if at all superior to the inhabitants of China or Japan-but while the one has remained nearly stationary, or made but trifling advances, the others have marched on, with rapid and gigantic strides, in the path of knowledge and improvement. Science has diffused its genial influence over every corner of Europe, dispelling the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition-and the various mechanic arts have been carried to a degree of perfection, never dreampt of in the philosophy of the Chinese. Notwithstanding, however, the decided superiority of the white races, we do not mean to assert, that there are not individuals among our darker brethren, capable of fathoming the most abstruse questions in philosophy, and of taking a high comparative rank among the gifted spirits of our race--nor even that the whole of the inferior varieties are not susceptible, to a limited degree, of civilization and refinement. Numerous examples may be found among the Africans even, of individuals who have made great proficiency in some of the sciences, in polite learning, and the useful and ornamental arts. A negro by the name of Hannibal, became a colonel in the Russian service, and was much distinguished for his attainments in mathematics and physics. In 1734, Arno, an African from the coast of Guinea, took the degree of Doctor of Laws at the University of Wirtemberg, and, according to Blumenbach, displayed extensive and well digested reading in the physiological books of the time. John Capitein, who was bought by a slave dealer when eight years of age, studied theology at Leyden, and published several sermons and poems. His dissertation, "de servitute Libertati Christianæ non contraria," went through four editions in a very short time. These, and numerous other instances which might be adduced, however, are merely individual cases, and prove nothing as to the general comparative capability of these races for intellectual improvement--as this is a question, which must be decided by more extended and varied observations. It is worthy of remark too, that it is only among the white races that any correct notions of religion, or rational views of a superintending Providence can be found. While the darker varieties have, from time immemorial, been immersed in the lowest and most disgusting species of idolatry, or have been totally ignorant of the existence of a God, and of a future state of rewards and punishments-the Caucasian race has either possessed a perfect form of religion, as Judaism and christianity-or where they have been Pagans and ignorant of the Bible, their ideas of their own responsibility, and of the true character of the Supreme Being, have been more rational and more nearly allied to the truth. The comparatively reasonable system of Heathenism, contained in the Grecian and Roman mythology, with its elegant and fanciful allegories, when compared with the senseless and often disgusting jargon of the Hottentot and Ethiopian, strikes us, at least, as the production of a higher and more cultivated intellect. In forms of government, also, is the same marked superiority manifest. Not only are the white races the only ones who have enjoyed a free and republican government-but, with the exception of the Mongolian The different varieties of the human race, do not variety, the only race among which a form of govern- exhibit the same difference in their moral, which is so ment can with strict propriety be said to exist at all. manifest in their intellectual character. And indeed, it For surely, the casual and irregular and ill-defined is very doubtful, whether any well founded superiority authority, which the chiefs exert over savage tribes, in this respect can be established among the white can hardly be dignified with the name of government. over the darker nations. That particular vices are The complicated and extended, but useful and impor-more prevalent in some portions of the world than tant machinery of a well regulated empire, can no in others, and even that some nations are more moral where be found among savage nations-and hence the number subject to the same authority, must necessarily be very limited-and in fact seldom exceeds a few hundreds or thousands. Among barbarous tribes, no institutions can be found which secure freedom of conscience and opinion to all-which protect the feeble and defenceless against the strong and powerful--and which are administered upon principles, and according to Most travellers among the more barbarous and unrules, which have obtained the consent of all. In the cultivated nations agree in representing them as hospilanguage of another-"The spirit of liberty, the un-table, generous, and benevolent, to as great an extent, conquerable energy of independence, the generous glow as the same virtues will be found among the civilized of patriotism, belong chiefly to those nobler organiza- nations. and more virtuous than others, cannot be denied--but this is generally owing to local and peculiar circumstances in their situation; and at any rate, this superiority of virtue and order can never be predicated of a whole variety, which should be the case, if it were commensurate with the intellectual distinctions we have been endeavoring to demonstrate. MOTHER GOOSE'S MELODIES.* We are true lovers of our country. We are genuine admirers of our country's literature. We read every thing that issues from its prolific press. We have tra in America that we do not peruse, including all the The travels of Barrow, Park, and others, in different parts of Africa, abound with anecdotes highly honorable to the moral character of the ignorant and unpolished inhabitants of that quarter of the globe. In speaking of the Hottentots, Barrow observes: "They are a mild, quiet and timid people; perfectly vailed over the travels of her sons. Their novels are harmless, honest and faithful; and though extremely phlegmatic, they are kind and affectionate to each not novel to us. Their romances are hi-stories with us. other and not incapable of strong attachments. A Hot-In short, nothing is written on, and nothing is printed tentot would share his last morsel with his companions. They have little of that art or cunning which savages generally possess. If accused of crimes of which they have been guilty, they generally divulge the truth. They seldom quarrel among themselves, or make use of provoking language. Though naturally fearful, they will run into the face of danger, if led on by their supe riors--and they suffer pain with patience and fortitude." I am aware, that the inferiority of the dark to the white races, has been abused as an argument in favor of involuntary slavery. It has been contended, that as the difference between them and ourselves is so great, it is obviously the order of nature that they should be subservient to our wishes, and be made to minister to our wants and caprices. But a precisely contrary inference would be drawn from this fact by every wellregulated and benevolent mind-that it gives them so much the stronger claim upon our charity and humanity--that if we have more knowledge than they, we should instruct them--if we are more refined and polished, we should civilize them--if we are more powerful, we should protect them-if we alone possess a knowledge of the true God, we should deem it a privilege, as well as a sacred duty, to extend to them the light of revelation and the blessings of christianity. THE HEN.* Was once a hen of wit not small, (In fact 'twas most amazing,) A turkey-cock, of age mature, 'Twas quite improper, he was sure,— So after cogitation, He to the lady straight repaired, "Madam, pray what's the matter, I wish you'd do the thing in quiet,— You creature ignorant and low! * Selected. A father, who was weary of receiving duplicate originals from his son in college, took the following method of putting a stop to the evil. He wrote thus to his lineal descendant: "My dear Bob,-For the last three years I have received a weekly epistle from you; and after a diligent comparison of the one hundred and fifty-six letters I have thus obtained, I find their purport and substance to be substantially the same, and as follows: 1st. A statement of your continued health, and a wish expressed that the few (the very few) lines you send, may find me in the enjoyment of the same blessing. 2nd. An assertion that you are improving vastly in your studies, and in the affections of your tutors. 3rd. An intimation, very forcibly conveyed, that you are in want of money. Now, my dear Bob, as I am anxious that you should improve more and more in your studies and the affections of your tutors, I have hit upon the expedient of economising your time, by furnishing you with a quire of printed letters, containing the substance and purport of your one hundred and fifty-six communications, and you will have nothing more to do, than to date and direct one weekly to your affectionate father, J. B." Now, do you understand us, kind friend, when we assert that we have read all the orations of the "glorious day?" We mean, then, that we have read two or three of them, and as we found the two or three to be something upon the same principle as the printed letters of Bob, we take it for granted we have read all. This digression and this story have carried us away from the description and discussion of the immortal book, whose name heads our article. With our hand upon our hearts, we say, that we have never read any thing like it. It is a happy union of rhyme, wit, pathos, satire, description. It teems with sentiment. It is prolific of condensation. It abounds with colored, wood engravings, and pictorial representations. It is the most unique specimen of Yankee enterprise and talent. But these are generalisms which require some special proofs to sustain them. We proceed to the delightful task. We open at random. "Little boy blue, come blow your horn, The sheep's in the meadow, the cow 's in the corn. Under the haycock fast asleep?" *The only pure edition. Boston-printed and published by Munroe & Francis-p. 96. Let us shut the book and open again at random. Here goes. Page 72. Let us see what we have got. By all that's good, a matrimonial moral. "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean.” Now we ask the reader to pause and admire each | Goose must remain, like the haystack and the village line, (for each line contains a moral,) of this poem. Ob- spire, in the clouds. serve how cautiously and properly the master, employer or parent (whichever he was,) of the "little boy blue," approaches him. Notwithstanding the breach of trust, the palpable omission, the dormant position of the delinquent, the master flies not into a passion, he suffers not the sheep to remain in the meadow, and the cow in the corn, whilst he gratifies his excited feelings by stripping and striping the juvenile youth azure. No, he goes to work very differently. He first applies himself to the correction of the evil, instead of the offender. He directs the latter to blow his horn. It is done; and having been done, he next proceeds to give (what all good masters and parents should always do,) his reason for the order, which reason is to be found in the second line, "The sheep 's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn." The reason having been given, he then bursts forth in the tones of indignant reproach "What! is this the way you mind your sheep, "Pshaw!" says some censorious reader-"Now we are going to have the history of that daily occurrence, that hourly episode, a Hymenial squabble. I suppose Mrs. Sprat said to Mr. Sprat, 'Sir, you are a selfish brute-you are a gormandizing monster-a gross eater; and I assure you, Mr. Sprat, that although I have now the misfortune of being your wife, I am still a mourner for my dear late husband.' And I suppose Mr. Sprat rejoined, And I assure you, Mrs. Sprat, that your dear late husband has not a more sincere mourner than your present unfortunate spouse; and that it would give me a melancholy pleasure to lay you down beside the dear departed, and to raise a tablet to your joint virtues, with this inscription, they were lovely in life, and in death they are not divided.'' I suppose," continues the censorious reader, "this is what the poem tells us." We are to suppose, (although the poem does not say Not at all-dear old lady. Not at all. "Well then," so,) that this reproach was made with some emphasis-exclaims the classical reader, " you are going to give us that it was accompanied with some black and blue marks a second edition of the old Roman story of the grandor memorandums, which would be a kind of vade mecum sons of Tarquinius Priscus, and the daughters of Serto the "little boy blue," inasmuch as they would be in-vius Tullius. You are going to remind us, that the scribed upon a tablet, and written upon a parchment, ve- Roman king married his angel daughter to the fiery ry well adapted to retain the impressions. Altogether, grandson of Tarquin, and his devil daughter to the mild then, we say, the poem is an exquisite production. scion of Priscus in order "to cross (?) their tempers, by And the engraving is alike excellent. It also requires a giving each to him of a contrary turn of mind"-Consedescription. In the back ground is a village church, kence vas-as Samuel Weller, Esquire, says-the angels the loftiness of whose spire may be imagined, when we were killed, and the devils after some slight murders, assert, that it touches the clouds; but the haystack is &c., came together; and now you are going to give us a more astonishing one than we have ever witnessed. an humble illustration of the truth of this story in the It "o'ertops the rainbow's home,-it out vies the rain-history of Mr. and Mrs. Sprat." Not at all, learned bow's hues." If we had not met with it in so veritable sir-not at all. "Then, what are you going to give us?" a book as Mother Goose's Melodies, we should be in- exclaims a fair reader. Well, dear young lady, we clined to doubt whether such a haystack ever existed. should like to give you a kiss, if you were near enough Finding it there, we cannot doubt that such a haystack to us; but as you are not, we are going to show you, has existed-in the imagination of Mother Goose. We upon the undoubted authority of Mother Goose, that must, as impartial critics, notice what we consider an matrimony is not so complicated a machine as you take instance of bad taste. A rake (we don't mean the "lit-it to be; that with common patience and forbearance, tle boy blue") is lying by the haystack. Now whether this be allegorical or rustical, it is bad taste. There is no moral beauty in a rake of any kind. It should have no place in so moral a poem, or book, as the one under discussion. We are also called upon to notice what may be called a glaring defect in the engraving. We allude to the dress of the "little boy blue." He is clothed in a suit of crimson. We think this an incon⚫sistency, unless, indeed, it is intended to show that all his habits are bad. Still we do not understand why he should be dressed in red, and ad-dressed as "little boy blue." We think both him and this matter, should be re-dressed. We hope that future editions of this book will be read, but that the "little boy blue" will not be Patience, kind readers, patience! I will soon be done. red. Perhaps, after all, we are hypercritical. Perhaps I am sure if you have had perseverance enough to read he is called "blue" to represent a quality, a state of mind through "the last new novel," your patience is nonsense or body of the minute youth cerulean. Perhaps the pain-proof. Let us open once more, Page 57. ter or the poet was blue. Perhaps-but pshaw! what is the use of bothering the little brain we have. There is a mystery in all great works-in all small men. The author of Junius is unknown. The meaning of Mother VOL. V.-79 persons of different sexes and contrariant dispositions, may live together like Law and Justice are said to do, in beautiful and harmonious concert. Behold the proof. "Jack Sprat could eat no fat, His wife could eat no lean, Mark, gentle, fair, censorious, classical reader, mark the "So, twixt them both they-cleared the cloth, And to make the impression more lasting, there is the "Three wise men of Gotham If the bowl had been stronger Now, match me that, my masters, for brevity and condensation of expression. How different from the inflated verbosity of the present poets. Suppose now, for example, the three wise men of modern Gotham, should go to sea in a bowl-(and by-the-bye, we expect they have all been half seas over with a bowl)—what an excitement would be produced-what a fuss would be made. The Courier, the Star, the Herald, would have "black lines drawn around and through them;" paragraph upon paragraph would be written-column (typographical) upon column, would be devoted to the history of their fate-their sufferings-their virtues. Mother Goose, although she had quite as much capital to bank on with her three wise men, records their fate, their sufferings, their virtues, in four lines. No doubt, as she says, "if the bowl had been stronger, the story had been longer." We are very glad the bowl was weak. Again-page 67, "John O'Gudgeon was a wild man, He whipt his children now and then ; The only remark we have to make upon this is, that although it may be very laudable, (and Soloman says it is,) in a parent to whip his children "now and then," and though it may be rare fun and uncommon diligence to make them dance "out of Ireland into France," yet our opinion of the poetry in which the sentiment is clothed, is, that it would require a miracle to make any man write worse. We conclude our extracts, by giving page 75 entire, to which we will add nothing, for the simple reason that we have nothing to add. "Five children playing on the ice, All on a summer's day, As it fell out, they all fell in, Now had these children been at home, You parents, that have children dear, If you would have them safe abroad, We close this critique with the observation that Messrs. Munroe and Francis, the enterprising publishers, have immortalized themselves as long as Mother Goose lives; and we add, that acting upon the principle, of the Parisian widow, who erected a splendid mausoleum to the memory of her departed husband, with this inscription, "This tablet is reared by his disconsolate widow, who keeps perfumery and gloves in Rue St. Germain, No. 156, and will be happy to serve all who call" so we say to Mother Goose, to Messrs. Munroe and Francis, to the Messrs. Harpers, to Mr. Colman, to all and singular the booksellers, that for a quid pro quo, we are willing to read, (!) we are willing to review (we are content to be martyrs,) any of their heavy-light productions, and to draw out the beauties, and shove in the defects thereof, in the same manner, and with the same talent, that we trust we have exhibited in criticising the "Melodies of Mother Goose." Savannah, Georgia. A GEORGIA REVIEWER. Off in the West there is a sea of blue:- II. The Northern wind hath blown his bugle blast:- DESULTORY THOUGHTS ON LOVE. BY A BACHELOR. All thoughts, all passions, all delights, All are but ministers of Love, Thus sings Coleridge, bard of the visionary eye, and thus all nature and all experience proclaim. We are told that God is Love; and this divine principle was made to act a primary part in all the ancient systems of theology and cosmogony. Aristophanes in his Aves, rendering an account of this primitive philosophy, observes, that "at first was nothing but Night and Chaos, which producing an egg, from thence proceeded Love, that mingling again with Chaos, begot heaven and earth, and animals and all the gods." In the earliest opinions of mankind there appears a certain harmony, which would seem to indicate a common source, and the passage just quoted from the Greek poet, will not fail to call to mind the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, of the Mosaic Record. But this Love does not correspond with the sense in which the term is popularly employed-and we are told, indeed, in the following old version of the Wings of Simmias Rhodias, a hymn made in the honor of Love, that it is not Cupid, the soft and effeminate [ him is instead of a God or melior natura. son of Venus, but another kind of love. I'm not that wanton boy, The sea-froth goddess' only joy; Pure heavenly love I hight, and my Soft magic charms, not iron bands, fast tye Heaven, earth and seas. The gods themselves do readily This is clearly the animating soul of nature, the ratio Principio cœlum ac terram, camposque liquentes Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet. Which cou rage is manifestly such, as that creature, without that confidence of a better nature than his own, could never attain. So man, when he resteth and assureth himself upon divine protection and favor, gathereth a force and faith which human nature in itself could not obtain." So it may be remarked, that those who take an elevated and spiritual view of love, give a nobility, purity and permanence to that passion to which it could not otherwise attain. Indeed, human love seems to ascend by gradual transition to the divine, from which it cannot be disjoined altogether. Something superior to the idea commonly conveyed by the term, has always been recognized by high and spiritual natures, of which the Socratic and Platonic passions are illustrations. Socrates, who defined Love to be "a desire for happiness, through the medium of beauty," delivers himself as Which not having a copy of "glorious John" at follows: "There is but one eternal, immutable, unihand-we venture to paraphrase thus: Earth, Heaven's expanse, the liquid fields of light, The silvery moon and stars serenely bright, One life pervades, whose animating soul, Extends through every part and stirs the mighty whole. Moreover, this cannot be that love either, which is described in Plato's Symposium, which "is nothing but Dioxadia, or the love of pulchritude as such, which though rightly used, may perhaps wing and inspire the mind to noble and generous attempts, and beget a scornful disdain of mean, dirty and sordid things; yet is capable of being abused also, and then it will strike downwards into brutishness and sensuality. But at best it is an affection belonging only to imperfect and parturient beings; and therefore could not be the first principle of all things. Wherefore, we see no very great reason but that, in a rectified and qualified sense, this may pass for true theology-that Love is the Supreme Deity and original of all things, namely—if it be meant eternal, self-originated, intellectual Love, or essential and substantial goodness, that having an infinite overflowing fulness and fecundity, dispenses itself uninvidiously, according to the best wisdom, sweetly governs all, without any force or violence, (all things being naturally subject to its authority and readily obeying its laws,) and reconciles the whole world into harmony. For the Scripture telling us that God is Love, seems to warrant thus much to us, that love in some rightly qualified sense, is God." These speculations may seem barren of interest or instruction, yet we confess that both from taste and reason, we are fond of those lofty contemplations which give dignity to our nature, and elevate its sentiments and affections to something of a divine origin and sympathy. Indeed, those who take a merely physical and grovelling view of human nature in this regard, voluntarily degrade themselves; and of them it may be said what Bacon has so finely observed of another class of material philosophers: "They that deny a God, destroy man's nobility; for certainly man is of kin to the beasts by his body; and if he be not of kin to God by his spirit, he is a base, ignoble creature. It destroys likewise magnanimity and the raising of human nature; for take an example of a dog, and mark what a generosity and courage he will put on, when he finds himself maintained by a man, who to form beauty; in contemplation of which, our sovereign |