remarkable in that: this trick has often been practised before in the seminaries of Philadelphia. O how delightful it was to behold the mouthing, and stamping, and sawing the air! the smiles and the grins, and the furious gesticulations! While the fond parents Smil'd and look'd, smil'd and look'd, And smil'd and look'd again. each one imagining that he saw, in his favorite son, some future Demosthenes, Cicero, Chatham, Burke, or Fox. In faith, 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange! 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful! The young gentlemen received the unanimous applause of the polite assembly; the most extravagant encomiums were bestowed on the care and assiduity of the teacher; and the fame of his select academy was extended throughout the city. But a great part of my success depends upon the manner in which I eulogize the children to their respective parents. And, although I firmly believe that some of them have discernment enough to perceive my motive for so doing, still, this flattery is so delightful to every parental ear, that they are universally carried away by the pleasing delusion. "Well, Mr. Birch," says Mrs. Bombysine, "what do you think of my Bobby?" "Think, ma'am, I protest I think him the most astonishing child in the world! He is a prodigy of genius! Upon my word, ma'am, he appears to know every thing intuitively. I was taken with his appearance at first sight. I was struck with something uncommon in his countenance, which seemed to prognosticate future greatness. And then he is so irresistibly interesting-I think be very much resembles you ma'am." "Do you think so, Mr. Birch? Why I do not know he is said to be like Mr. Bombysine." ." "True ma'am, very true ma'am, in the outlines of his countenance; but the genius of his mother beams in his eyes! You will please to permit me to express my opinion freely on this subject: in these matters I conceive that my judgment is to be depended upon. Your son will one day fill a distinguished place in the republic of letters." "What turn do you think he will have for public speaking, Mr. Birch?" 66 Upon my honor, ma'am, he has a wonderful talent for declamation. Did you observe, ma'am, with what a noble air he came forward! how fluent his delivery! how natural and easy his gestures! Yes, I can foretel with certainty that his elocution, in our great national council, will fill the world with astonishment." "I am pretty much of your opi nion, Mr. Birch, as to Bobby's talents for elocution; and I have often puzzled my brain by endeavoring to determine which of the learned professions would best fall in with the bent of his genius. I would rather depend upon your judgment, in this interesting affair, than on that of any other man I know. Mr. Bombysine seems inclined to make him a physician; but it seems to me, that, in that calling, his oratorical abilities would be totally lost to the community. We do not receive talents, Mr. Birch, to hide them in a napkin." Madam, your ideas coincide exactly with mine. I am satisfied that he would make an eminent physician, should his studies be directed that way; but, as you very justly observe, that employment would not afford him an opportunity of displaying his rhetorical powers. The profession of the law opens more pleasing prospects he would be an ornament to the bar, and confer dignity on the bench." "True: yet I always used to think that he discovered a military genius. When he was quite a child, it was with the utmost difficulty that I could keep him in the house on those days when the troops were parading in the streets: he would shoulder his father's cane and strut across the room with an air so consequential and imperi. ous!-you would have split your sides with laughing had you seen him." "Your observations are perfectly correct, ma'am; he has indeed a martial air when he moves; and there is something so majestic and commanding in his countenance-I have no doubt, ma'am, but that you will live to see him a general officer." Well, Mr. Birch, there is one thing certain: you have a wonderful talent for the instruction of youth. Every one speaks highly of your abilities. Do you find the employment agreeable?" "Were all my pupils such as your son, my business would not only be pleasing but honorable." 66 These, Piomingo, these are the arts by which I render the vanity, folly, and imbecility of the world the means of my own advancement. Can you blame me? Piomingo. Not I truly: I think you are perfectly right. When your scholars have completed their education, what have they learned? Schoolmaster. To chatter about every thing, and understand nothing.— The proposal of Crito has met with a favorable reception. We will receive with pleasure, and insert with readiness, his philological remarks. However unimportant they may appear to him, we have no doubt but they will prove instructive to some of our readers, and agreeable to all. We make this observation with more confidence because we know that few have a more intimate acquaintance with the nature of the English language, or have studied its analogies more successfully, than Crito. THE SAVAGE-NO. XI. Prejudice. IRAD pursued his journey through the sandy deserts of Africa; oppressed with fatigue and overcome with thirst, his soul died within him. While in this situation, he beheld at a distance a grove of palmtrees; he hastened to the place and found a well of delicious water. He drank งง and lay down to repose. But erc sleep had closed his eyes, he began to reflect on his present situation: "If I now proceed on my journey "said Irad, "I shall reach the place of my abode before the close of the day; but if I loiter here, I shall be overtaken by night and devoured by the beasts of the desert. I must not linger here: I must be gone.-But cool is the breeze that plays through the leaves of the palmtrees! A few moments' rest in this delightful shade will not prevent me from performing my journey While he yet continued to prolong this indulgence, he fell asleep; nor did he awake till the going down of the sun. Terrified at approaching darkness and the dangers of the night, he mourned bitterly over the folly and infatuation which had governed his conduct. The horrors which surrounded him deprived his mind of that composure and deliberation, which were rendered doubly necessary by the circumstances in which he was placed. He became confusedhe wandered from his way-the shades of evening closed in about him-it became dark -he was encountered by a lion in search of prey-alas! poor Irad! Had Irad known the consequences that would result from sleeping beneath the palmtrees, he would not have lain down: the cooling breeze and the refreshing shade would have lost their tempting sweetness He would have hastened from the fountain as from the abode of death, and pursued his way with vigor and alacrity. The case of Irad is not singular. Who is there that travels in the laborious paths of vir. tue,without ever turning aside into the flowery fields of vice, which lie on the right hand and on the left? Who is there that has constantly resisted the instigations of avarice, the whisperings of vanity, the suggestions of ambition, the impulses of passion, and the allurements of pleasure? Who is there that has looked upon the tree of vice, and seen that it "was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise," and has not taken the fruit, and eat thereof? Yet were we aware of the evils that must inevitably result from our wanderings; did we know that the voice of the sirens would conduct us to destruction; were we fully satisfied that the consequence of eating the "forbidden fruit" would be death; this knowledge would strip vice of all her meretricious charms and weak human nature would be able to resist her allurements. Proh superi! quantum mortalia pectora cæcæ From these premises it appears that we agree in opinion with those who suppose that the vices and follies of man arise from ignorance or intellectual darkness; and could we believe, with these philosophers, that this weak and erring man could be transformed into a god, then we should become a convert to that phi osophy which teaches us to believe that the empire of virtue will be established by the dif fusion of knowledge. But if man be by nature incapable of receiving that intelligence which is to guide him in the paths of rectitude; if all the light that he can receive serve only to discover to him that he is surrounded by impenetrable darkness; if it only give him a glimpse of proximate objects, and tend to render him discontented with his situation; why should we feed ourselves with the vain hope of making him virtuous and happy by giving him knowledge? There is one being who, we are taught to believe, looks through universal nature, and understands all existing relations; who sees through a chain of causes and effects from eternity to eternity; and whose mind is the fountain of truth: this being must necessarily act right; but every inferior existence must be limited in knowledge, and consequently, liable to error. And what shall we say of man? He is placed so low, so infinitely low, in the scale of intelligence, that any light,which his nature is capable of receiving, rather has a tendency to mislead him, by encouraging him to reason, from the very little that he knows, concerning that universe of things which remains unknown. He looks up and he sees trees walking" and from this imperfect glimpse, he boldly forms a system for universal nature! 66 men as How can he be taught to foresee the consequences of his own actions? How can he be taught to know that his personal interest, and the interest of every other being in exis tence are the same? How can he be taught at the same time injuring himself? When all his to know that he cannot injure another without prejudices are eradicated, and when he is enlightened, as much as he is capable of being enlightened, will he not still conclude that his own interest may be promoted by acts of injustice? But man is so weak, his knowledge so imperfect, his life so short, that he must always be governed by prejudices: and it is a happy circumstance when these prejudices are a salutary nature. of a The philosopher, who would make a nation of virtuous men, must not expect to do it merely by communicating knowledge: he must regulate their conduct by taking advantage of their feelings and passions: he must implant salutary prejudices,and eradicate those which are pernicious: he must make them act uprightly, honorably, nobly from the generous impulse of their minds, without any cold calculation, or metaphysical reasonings. Yes, we repeat it, he must establish a system of prejudice. What influenced Leonidas and his Spartan band to die in defence of their country? It was prejudice: a glorious, heroic, godlike prejudice, implanted in the mind of the nation by its immortal lawgiver. Could we be assured of the existence of such a prejudice at the present day,we would curse the philosophy that would destroy it. We have no intention of entering into metaphysical disquisitions; but were led into these thoughts by some observations we lately heard made on the subject of prejudices. It was asserted that all the crimes, vices and follies, of men were owing to ignorance; that knowledge was progressing slowly through the world, and would finally triumph over prejudice, vice, and misery; and that nothing had so great a tendency to destroy prejudices, and render men enlightened, civilized, and munificent, as commerce." Let it not be said that he becomes a citizen of the world that his amor patriæ is converted into a love of mankind in general-universal philanthropy never flourishes where patriotisin is destroyed. The whole world is too mighty an object for his affections; and the more he knows of the world, the more reason he finds to condemn it: his knowledge of its perfidy and injustice awakens suspicion and hatred. He still loves; but the object of his affections is-self only. He hails national calamities as the greatest of blessings, if they contribute to the success of his trade: and he willingly plunges his country into war for the proceeds of a profitable voyage. It appears to us, that truth and falsehood are so intimately blended in this statement, National religion, national laws, national that they cannot be easily separated. We manners, and purity of morals are quickly have no doubt that vice of every kind owing contaminated, and finally destroyed, hy the to ignorance: no man willingly loses his way, prevalence of commerce. When a man has and becomes a wanderer in the labyrinths of ceased to love his country, he gradually ceases error: he must be misled by false appearances. to love its religion, its laws, its manners, and But we contend that the nature of men is such, that they cannot be kept in the paths of rectitude, or their conduct regulated, merely by enlightening their understandings. We are an enemy to those prejudices which render men bigoted, ferocious, or cruel; yet we would tremble at the idea of sweeping from the face of the earth every species of opinions which may fall under the description of prejudices. Before we proceed any farther, it might not be amiss to give some explanation of the term. Prejudices are opinions, sentiments, or judgments, which exist in the minds of men without being produced by any previous process of reasoning: they may be founded on truth or falsehood; they may be, in their effects, salu. tary or pernicious. We agree that nothing has so great a tendency to destroy prejudices of all kinds as commerce. The intercourse it promotes among men of different nations, religions, manners, customs, and appearances, must contribute directly to annihilate all national peculiarities. Men will soon find that they all agree in one thing only; and this one thing will become the sole motive to action in the mind of every enlightened merchant. The accursed love of gain swallows up every thing else in the breast of the trader. Nor is it long confined to the mercantile class. It pervades the mass of the community, and exterminates every generous passion, salutary prejudice, pleasing illusion, and virtuous propensity. Patriotism is a prejudice which is incompatible with the pursuits of a merchant. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." He becomes interested as much in the concerns of foreign nations as in those of his own country. He divests himself of every childish partiality in favor of the soil which gave him birth. The passions that animated the bosom of a Codrus, a Philopomen, a Decius, a Cato, or a Brutus, are despised by him as the dreams of a disordered imagination. its morals. When he has ceased to give it the preference over every other country, he soon ceases to love and esteem its distinguishing particularities. He becomes acquainted with men of many nations, whose various religions, governments, and manners are as numerous as the continents,island and territories,they inhabit. He sees them every where breaking through all restraints for the purpose of accumulating having ceased to be objects of veneration, the riches. His own country and its institutions ten or despised. His morals are relaxed; and salutary principles of his education are forgothe adopts a pliant system of ethics which will not impede his progress in the acquisition of wealth. The love of gain flourishes in his soul, and like the fabled Upas sheds abroad the dew of death on every budding virtue. He freights his ship with shrieking Africans torn from the bosom of their country and their friends; he takes convenient oaths to evade the payment of duties; and he tramples on the cross of Christ for the sake of a lucrative trade! [To be continued. From Crito. In consequence of your permission, Piomingo, I shall take the liberty occasionally to trouble you with some remarks on language; but you are not to expect any thing like connected dissertations or regular essays. I shall present you, when I find leisure, with casual thoughts and desultory observations, on philological subjects: if you think them worthy of a place in your miscellany, it is well; if not I shall be satisfied. Those who left the island of Great Britain, and settled in a wilderness, certainly forfeited none of their rights to the language of their forefathers. If they still had the liberty of speech, they must necessarily have retained the privilege of regulating that speech in the manner most agreeable to themselves. Their removal from an island intimately connected with surrounding nations, and their settlement on an immense continent far distant from the European world, must inevitably occasion some slight differences to exist,between the language spoken by the people of the United States and that spoken by the inhabitants of Great Britain. Many words familiar to our ancestors, in their native country, must have fallen into disuse when they settled here; because they were no longer conversant with the things to which these words were applied: and being placed in a new world, surrounded by an infinity of objects of which they had no previous know ledge, they were under the necessity either of inventing new names, for these new things, or of applying to them terms which were already appropriated to other objects. But these are not the only causes which tend to produce a difference: the intercourse that subsists between England and other nations, her foreign possessions, and extensive commerce, keep her language in a state of continual fluctuation, and subject it to changes to which the language of the citizens of the United States is not exposed. From this consideration it appears probable that in the course of a few centuries the English language will be found in much greater purity in America than in the island of Great Britain, taking those authors as a standard, who wrote during that period which has generally been accounted the Augustan age of England. Does it not there fore discover a kind of literary servility in us to receive without hesitation every word which may have been adopted on the other side of the Atlantic, while we use with reluctance any term which has originated among ourselves? and, by the indiscriminate reception, we give to these foreign terms, do we not contribute more to the corruption of our speech, than we would do by the adoption of so many indigenous appellations? But it is not only by the admission of lately adopted English words, but also by our readiness to receive English modes of pronunciation, that we hasten those corrupt changes which sooner or later take place in every lan. guage. In numerous instances is the pronunciation of the American people more correct and analogical than the fashionable pronuncia. tion in England. We have preserved the original orthoepy which has been lost by the inhabitants of Great Britain. Must we therefore discard our own sounds, and adopt others less analogical, merely because they may be found in a pronouncing dictionary? It must be acknowledged that several causes concur to prevent any thing like purity of language or uniformity of pronunciation in the United States: the continual influx of foreigners, (who pervade the interior of the country, and whose several dialects when melted into the speech of the original settlers form a curious and laughable amalgamation) has a tendency to unsettle the language of the uneducated inhabitants. I have sometimes supposed myself to be engaged in discourse with a native H of the north of Ireland,when immediately after he made use of certain expressions, which led me to believe that he was a German: upon inquiry, I learned that he was a Pennsylvanian by birth. The emigrants from various counties of England, the Welsh, the Scotch, the Irish, the Germans, the French, when they take up their residence among us and become connected by marriages, and otherwise, with the original inhabitants, influence in a small degree the language of the country; but the effects of these connections, as population increases, become less and less perceptible, and will before long cease to exist. But the greatest enemy to purity of language in the United States is the prevalence of, what literary men in England have termed, the London dialect: this flourishes in our cities, and even in many parts of the interior. Since the English have taken up the idea of establishing a uniform system of pronunciation, they have added one pronouncing dictionary to another till they have involved the matter in obscurity and doubt, ten times more perplexing than ever it was before. And our ignorant wordmongers in the United States, having selected their respective favorites among the English orthoepists, and combined these transatlantic mate rials with their provincial peculiarities, framed their pronouncing spelling books; which they have sent forth to regulate the pronunciation of the American youth. It is easy to point out evils; but to find suitable remedies is a matter of the greatest difficulty. I shall touch on this subject some other time; at present I must conclude when I have made one additional observation. Great things have owed their existence to the talents and enterprise of private persons; but in a country like this where there are no national manners, national pride, or national character; where the sordid love of gain engrosses all the powers of the soul; where affec tation of foreign manners, foreign literature, and foreign follies universally prevails;-in such a country, the exertions of an individual will avail but little. Did Congress possess the will and the power to institute public schools throughout the whole extent of the United States, erect colleges in every state, and estab lish a great federal university at the city of Washington; would our legislators unite their talents to devise a liberal, enlightened and grand system of national education; then, not only would our literature flourish, but the political consequences would be of infinite importance. Would it cost too much ?-There was a Greek proverb, which signified that "nothing but the love of gold could conquer Sparta." dispensable and polite accomplishment of of a quarter, he may attack his father, the wit. Mr. W. has long observed and deplored the scarcity of wit in this western hemisphere, and has at last been happy enough to hit upon an expedient to supply the deficiency. That quickness of genius which displays itself in flashes of intellectual fire-brilliant repartees, ingenious allusions, uncommon distinctions, and odd assimilations, is the gift of nature: not one in a thousand can hope to possess it; but Mr. W. from his long residence in the capitals of England and France, and his extensive acquaintance with the gay quizzical and waggish spirits of Europe, has been enabled to arrange and bring to perfection a system of mechanical wit, which will be found to answer all the purposes of the genuine article. It provokes as much laughter,and excites more merriment, and fun, than the wit of mother nature's own production. Mr. W. has observed with pleasure the liberal spirit displayed by the citizens of Phila. delphia in the encouragement they continue to show to ingenious foreigners of every description, who are busily employed in trans planting the polite arts, delectable fashions, enchanting manners and enlightened morals of civilized Europe to this new, but rapidly improving, world; and he hopes, by the most unwearied assiduity in the service of his employers, and uni emitted exertions in the promotion of wit and hilarity to merit a share of the public patronage. schoolmaster or parson; and if he should continne to attend these instructions for six months, he will be entitled to the degree of Master Quizzer from the Academy of Wit. Mr. W. is supremely happy to have it in his power to inform the children of Comus that he has constructed a scale for laughing from the lowest maiden simper, to the sidebursting horse laugh; to which he has appended every neces. sary instruction for those who wish to learn scientifically the art of cachinnation. Mr. W. will have stated days of exhibition, when the parents and guardians of his pupils will have an opportunity of attending to witness the proficiency of the young gentlemen in these charming accomplishments. At which time Mr. W. will go through all his contortions and grimaces for the amusement of his patrons. Towards the conclusion of the entertaininent, he and his pupils will unite in a simultaneous exertion of their powers, which will undoubt edly afford a sublime enjoyment to a judicious audience. Mr. W. has the honor to inform the public, that he has considered this subject philosophi cally, and is firmly of opinion that this me chanical or artificial wit is in no respect infe rior to the verbal or written productions of genius. If original wit, as some authors contend, consist in striking contrasts, ingenious distinctions, and odd associations, he will venture to assert, without fear of contradiction, that mechanical wit, as taught in Monkey hall, possesses these advantages in a degree infi nitely superior to any other species that ever existed. Was it not said by an ancient philo. sopher that if virtue could be rendered visible, all men would adore her? This Mr. W. has done for wit: he has given her a substantial form, and exposed her to the admiring world in all her native loveliness. What can present more striking contrasts than smiles and frowns, laughing and groaning, screams of distress, and shouts of triumph? What can produce a finer effect than the mewling of a cat and the What can be more sublime roaring of a lion? Mr. W. begs leave to inform the lovers of fun that nothing shall be neglected at his academy that has a tendency to provoke laughter. He will teach how to perform, in the most fashionable manner, every species of Quips and cranks and wanton wiles, Nods and becks and grins and smiles. He will teach how to distort every part of the body in the most genteel style: such as rolling the eyes, twisting the mouth, projecting the chin,smacking the lips,shooting out the tongue, distending the cheeks, shrugging up the shoul. ders, protruding the belly, kicking up the heels, and rolling on the floor; together with every and terrific than the various and discordant kind of winking, blinking, frisking, gaping, yells of men and animals, accompanied by the wriggling, yelling, whooping, squatting, squeak. inost tremendous distortions of the visage and ing, squealing, squalling, screaming, screech- every part of the body? What strange assoing, hissing, groaning, grunting, bawling, ciations will be produced by the judicious use barking, braying, baaing, bellowing, growling, snoring, snorting, caterwauling,-and various other performances and evolutions which it is unnecessary to enumerate. of all these means! what discord and harmony! what sublime entertainment! As to the em. phatical and ingenious replies, produced by this species of wit, nothing can exceed them: Mr. W. announces, with the greatest satisfac- suppose, for example, that A. should attack B. tion, that he has made every necessary pre- with a threatening look and furious gesticulaparation to teach the genuine art of quizzing tions, and B. should respond by a grandisonous as now practised by the highflying bloods of explosion a posteriori; could there be a repar. Europe. Any thing of a brisk young gentle. tee mere brilliant and impressive? man may, after having taking three or four Mr. W. presumes it is unnecessary for him lessons, venture to quiz the old woman who to dwell on the indispensable necessity of the sells apples and cakes at the corner; in six divine art of quizzing to every one who wishes weeks he may practise upon his mother, sister, to support the character of an accomplished maiden aunt, or grandmother; in the course gentleman. Quizzing has almost totally su |