1831.] EARLY POETS AND POETRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. verses to the author of “ Bachelor's Hall," are the only His poems loose the beauty of surprise, We see the billets cast which mount it higher. GEORGE WEBB was distinguished as a poet in his day. He seems to have been patronised by the gentlemen of fashion, and his poem of "Bachelor's hall" was written in a sense of gratitude to the members of a celebrated club which met at an edifice in the neighbourhood of the Treaty tree, and which had the reputation of any thing but morality among the quiet inhabitants of our city. Webb in his poem vindicates the society of bachelors from the charge of debauchery, and claims for their hall the character of a temple of science and virtue. 'Tis not the revel, or lascivious night, To mend the heart and cultivate the mind, It is altogether a very creditable performance. It consists of about one hundred lines, and was printed in folio and sold at the new printing office (Franklin's) MDCCXXXI. Webb published in 1728 a short poem in praise of Pennsylvania-and many of the best pieces in the Universsl Instructor and Pennsylvania Gazette were, without doubt, written by him-as he was engaged in that publication with Keimer, but I have not been able to identify any of them. ence. 155 I quote from the same anonymous piece, the following character of Webb: Surely the Muse hath ranged the distant spheres, By paper stamp'd and set all right again. The poet next notices another of his fellow citizens of Parnassus in a strain of satire, which, though really witty, is not quite sufficiently delicate for modern ears. As the person is not named, and I have been unable to discover any verses to which the character is applicable, I do not hesitate to omit it. The poem concludes with the following lines: In Brooke's capacious breast the muses sit, Enrobed with sense polite and poignant wit; His lines run smoothly though the current's strong; He forms with ease, with judgment sings the song. As the awful elm supports the purpling vines, So round his sense his sprightly wit entwines: Oh! would he oft'ner write, so should the town Or mend their tastes, or lay the Muses down; For, after manna who would garbage eat, That hath a spark of sense or grain of wit? The subject of this exalted encomium was Mr. HENRY ished education. BROOKE, a young gentleman of high talents and of finHe is said to have been a younger son of Sir Henry Brooke, Bart, and was provided for by a settlement at Lewistown, Sessex county, as collector of the customs. Of his separation from his friends and seclusion from polished society he constantly complains in a series of letters to James Logan, distinguished for their elegance and sprightliness. The only specimen of Brooke's poetry which I have met with is entitled I can neither add to, nor improve the history of George Webb as given by Dr. Franklin, and therefore quote the following: "He was an Oxford scholar” "whose service Keimer had purchased for four years, intending him for a compositor." "He was then not more than eighteen years of age, and the following are the particulars he gave me of himself. Baron at Gloucester, he had been educated at a grammar school, and had distinguished himself among the scholars by his su "A discourse on Jests." It is addressed to Mr. Robert perior style of acting, when they represented dramatic Grace, whom Franklin describes as "a young man of for performances. He was member of a literary club in the tune, generous, animated, and witty, fond of epigrams, town; and some pieces of his composition, in prose as but more fond of his friends." It rallies him on the subwell as verse, had been inserted in the Gloucester pa-ject of "his darling bosomse in a jest" with much good pers. From hence he was sent to Oxford, where he sense and good humour. It may be pronounced a remained about a year; but he was not contented, and sprightly and pleasant treatise on false wit, and proves wished to see London, and become an actor. At length its author to have been not only an imitator of good having received fifteen guineas to pay his quarter's models, but himself the possessor of a lively wit and a board, he decamped with the money from Oxford, hid refined taste. Mr. Brooke became very eminent in the his gown in a hedge, and travelled to London. There, lower counties, was for several years Speaker of their having no friend to direct him, he fell into bad company, assembly, and, in 1720, was appointed a Master in Chansoon squandered his fifteen guineas, could find no way cery by Sir W. Keith. He died in 1735, in the 57th of being introduced to the actors, became contemptible, year of his age, and the General Magazine of 1741 conpawned his clothes, and was in want of bread. As he tains a poetic tribute to his memory, which describes was walking along the streets, almost famished with hun-him as an accomplished linguist, and an adept in almost ger, and not knowing what to do, a recruiting bill was put into his hand, which offered an immediate treat and bounty money to whoever was disposed to serve in America. He instantly repaired to the house of rendezvous, enlisted himself, was put on board a ship and conveyed to America, without ever writing a line to inform his parents what was become of him. His mental vivacity and good natural disposition, made him an excellent companion; but he was indolent, thoughtless, and to the last degree imprudent." He afterwards, by the assistance of a friend, was enabled to purchase his time, and became interested with his former master in the paper which soon afterwards fell into Franklin's hands. He is named amongst the original members of the Junto-but we have no further notice of his exist. every science. I must not omit the names of three early friends of Dr. Franklin, who seem to have dedicated some of their hours to the Muses, although the productions of two of them are not to be discovered, and perhaps did not merit preservation. "My most intimate acquaintances," says he, "were CHARLES OSBORNE, JOSEPH WATSON, and JAMES RALPH, young men who were all fond of reading. The two first were clerks to Mr. Charles Brockden, one of the principal attorneys of the town; the other clerk to a merchant. • William Banloft, a noted stable keeper. 156 EARLY POETS AND POETRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Watson was an upright, pious and sensible young man: the others were somewhat more loose in their principles of religion, particularly Ralph, whose faith, as well as that of Collins,I had contributed to shake; each of whom made me suffer a very adequate punishment. Osborne was sensible and sincere, and affectionate in his friendships, but too much inclined to the critic in matters of literature. Ralph was ingenious and shrewd, genteel in his address, and extremely eloquent. I do not remember to have met with a more agreeable speaker. They were both enamoured of the Muses, and had already evinced their passion by some small poetical productions." This account introduces an agreeable description of their literary recreations in the retirement of "the woods which border the Schuylkill, where they read together, and afterwards conversed on what they read." He gives a lively sketch of their poetical competitions, which fixed Ralph at least, his resolution of becoming a poet. The subsequent history of Ralph, as told by Dr. Franklin, contains some anecdotes which do no great honour to either of them. They went to England together in 1724. There Ralph applied himself professionally to literature, but in his choice proved an unfortunate one, and talents which might have gained him high reputation in our province, were overlooked in the British metropolis. Between the years 1730 and 1745 he published several plays, some of which were acted at Drury Lane, but without even a temporary success. The names of four of them are "The Fashionable Lady," "Fall of the Earl of Essex," "The Lawyer's Feast," and "The Astrologer." Depending for his support on these exertions he was constantly disappointed and always in want, and his letters dated at this period were written in all the bitterness of mortification and penury. As a political writer he was somewhat more successful, He was the editor of several scurrilous periodicals, and was a distinguished member of the corps of scribblers who incessantly attacked the measures of the adminis. tration. He acted for some time as a partisan of Mr. Doddington, afterwards Lord Melbourne,and enjoyed, it is said, the confidence of the Prince of Wales, then in the ranks of the opposition. But his pen had its price and was finally purchased or paralysed by a handsome bribe from Mr. Pelham. In the last literary production of Ralph, "The Case of Authors stated, with regard to Booksellers, the Stage, and the public," he has described with success the ills and disappointments which he seems to have encountered and represents the profession of an author as the last a noble and liberal mind ought to select. Even then, pehaps he did not suppose that a diligent inquiry for his works would be rewarded only with their titles. The names of some of his poetical efforts are "Zeuma," "Clarinda," "The Muse's Address," &c. A poem called "Sawney," drew down upon him the satire of Pope, embittered perhaps by political animosity; and another piece published some time before, entitled "Night," is referred to by him in the caustic but elegant couplet, Silence ye wolves, whilst Ralph to Cynthia howls, Making Night hideous-answer him, ye owls! The reputation of Ralph as an historian is more hon ourable, his history of the reigns of William, Anne and George the First, gained for him, from Fox the character "of great acuteness as well as diligence," and is pronounced by Hallam to be the most accurate and faithful history of those times. The folios of this work are not often opened, but they have a place in all our libraries, where they remain the only monument of this early poet of Pennsylvania. James Ralph died at Chiswick in 1762. If he did not possess the genius of a poet, he at least exhibited talent as a political writer of no mean order. He is praised by his contemporaries for his great application, and is said to have made himself master of the French and Latin, and to have had some knowledge of the Italian language. It is not surprising that his integrity as a [SEPTEMBER writer did not withstand the temptation of a bribe, and his fault is perhaps palliated by his poverty, and the frequent examples of his contemporaries. He Contemporary with most of the writers I have mentioned, was WILLIAM SATTERTHWAITHE, an Englishman by birth, and a man of considerable learning. is said to have received collegiate honours, but this is improbable; and the humble station of a village schoolmaster is rarely the lot of a graduate at either of the sister universities. A female pupil was once benighted on her road homewards, he offered her the hospitality of his school,house, and the evening was long enough for their courtship and marriage. The imprudence of the step soon struck them, and they sailed for Pennsylvania in quest of better fortune. They settled in Buck's county, where Satterthwaithe resumed his old employment; but he still was persecuted by fortune; and his poverty was rendered even more bitter by the ill temper of his wife, who, it is said, on one occasion, attempted to poison him. But he sustained his ills with equanimity, and was in the end rewarded; for, it is said, he at last became easy in his circumstances, and his old age was rendered comfortable by the generosity of a patron. This patron was Jeremiah Langhorne, a gentleman of excellent talents, and of liberal mind, who was for many years distinguished in the provincial assembly, filled several of the highest offices, and succeeded James Logan as chief justice. Several of Satterthwaithe's poems have been transmitted to us; one, denominated "Mysterious Nothing," was written in 1738, at the instance of several young ladies. It is neither witty nor original, but is deficient neither in ease nor in harmony. It was, I believe, republished some years afterwards, and with it was printed “An Elegy on the death of Jeremiah Langhorne,” and a poem on "Providence." He also wrote another piece, entitled "A Religious Allegory of Life and Futurity, addressed to the Youth." His poems, generally, are commendable for the pious sentiments and amiable feelings which run through them. They cannot lay claim to great brilliancy or elegance, but they show their author to have been an admirer and imitator of the purest models, the poetry of Homer and Virgil. Every person who has looked through the early num bers of the Mercury, and of the Pennsylvania Gazette, must have noticed several salutary and panegyrical odes addressed to our Governors and other great men of the province, which have a family rudeness and vulgarity even below the usual mediocrity of similar pieces, and which may, I suppose, be safely attributed to the first Professional Poet our country produced. This was JOHN DOMMETT, of whom the only knowledge we possess is derived from an elegy to his memory, printed in the Mercury of July 26th 1738. The genius of its author was a kin to that of the deceased. In strains altogether worthy of him, it praises his wit and good humour, and the fecundity of his muse; but gives him the character of a drunkard, whose wretched life was sustained, and whose vices were encouraged by the bounty of those, to the praise of whom he had devoted his pen. He died at Whitemarsh, July 22d, 1729; and in an epitaph, a postscript to the elegy I have mentioned, the features of his character and fortune are thus summed up: Wealthy whilst rum be had, was John, yet poor 'Cause worth but little, rich, 'cause crav'd no more; Him England birth, Heaven wit, this Province gave Food, Indies drink, Rhymes pence, Whitemarsh a grave. As a rhymster, the name of John Dommett merits a place in this paper, and though we must pronounce his verses to be amongst the worst which were produced in this province, we ought perhaps to recollect; that there is nothing so rarely well treated, and in which so many Dommet apmen of genius have failed as panegyric. pears to have written verses on a variety of subjects, but I do not know that any of them have descended to us. [To be continued.] 1831.] THE ALCHEMIST. 157 For the Register of Pennsylvania. THE ALCHEMIST. ON AMERICAN CRITICISM. [SECOND ARTICLE.] Such once were Critics! such the happy few How far do the reviewers of the present age and country correspond with the character to which allusion is made, in the above warm and impassioned exclamation? To what extent would their merits be acknowledged by the critic bard; the powerful and commanding genius, who published his maxims of authorship in early life, and then proved them correct by the unparalleled success of his productions? In the unchecked succession of desultory amusement, or the heat of controversy, it is beneficial to resort occasionally to first principles, to recur to those fixed rules the truth of which has been felt in ages the most remote and climates the most dissimilar, and which have been from time to time committed to the written page by those whom the common consent of mankind has invested with the character of permanent authorities in criticism. I shall therefore, without further preface, or any apology,copy the whole of the passage; an extract which expresses, better than any other language can do, the office and duty of a critic, and which I think so valuable as to be well worthy of a renewed perusal, although it has already served for a motto to one of my former essays.* "But where's the man who counsel can bestow, Not dully prepossess'd, nor blindly right; Modestly bold, and humanly severe; A knowledge both of books and humankind; Gen'rous converse; a soul exempt from pride, And love to praise with reason on his side?" To the importance of the office of a reviewer I have already alluded in my last number; and it will not be unreasonable to ascribe to such a charge a correspond. ing dignity. A critic is, in reality, what the word imports, a judge; and he is unquestionably bound to preserve all the impartiality and calmness of the character. Independently of matters of mere taste, his judgment is occasionally of quite as much importance to the private rights of individuals as that of the corresponding legal officer. The estimate set upon the merits of an author has the most powerful influence not only upon the comfort of his existence, but upon his pecuniary interest, and sometimes, in fact, brings in question the existence of life itself. Proportionable to this responsibility is the elevation of the stand assumed by the great lights of criticism; by Aristotle, by Horace, by Boileau, and by the author of the splendid poem from which I have been quoting. Yet among the reviewers of the present day, and on both sides of the Atlantic, it will, I think, appear evi *No. XII. dent that the fairness of the judicial office has been 'forgotten, and that those who are in reality the advocates have been allowed quietly to seat themselves upon the bench. Journals have been instituted, large sums of money lavished, and the first talents of a great nation secured, with the object, in a literary point of view, not of judging impartially among the successive productions of the day, and making their various degrees of merit more widely known, but of writing up or writing down particular sets of men, and assisting in the efforts of well known political and business combinations. In order to avoid being misunderstood, I will at present confine myself to what we witness among the great periodicals of the British islands. In the partiality shown to the volumes produced by a whig author, the severity used towards tories, the almost indiscriminate praise of all Scotchmen,and the various preferences and dislikes ascribable to the private feelings of its editors, but visible in its pages, enough may surely be found to convict the Edinburgh Review of being, instead of a candid and just tribunal, the mere rostrum of a set of determined, able, eloquent and persevering pleaders, whose side, in relation to most points which may be brought into dispute, is already taken,and whose efforts are continually and resolutely bent to the extension and perpetuation of their already powerful empire. In connexion with this, various interests are to be promoted and opposed, as their mutual co-operation and reaction may indicate, or as may gratify individual feelings; interests which are well known to the world, and which it is not necessary for me to stop to enumerate. In like manner, the Quarterly is guided by partialities of an opposite class, and which are carried to so absurd an extent as to give rise, in the midst of papers exhibiting the most resplendent talent, to outburstings of a strange and extravagant hatred towards republican institutions of all ages and countries. In the warmth of their support to oligarchy, the writers in that journal seem to carry a feeling of personal and individual resentment, such as generally belong to a private and interested partisanship, into the highest antiquity and the most remote locality; they enter into a furious political quarrel with the Athenian dicasts, and, upon the institututions and customs of the United States, they insert those extraordinary effusions which have so often attracted the wonder, indignation and ridicule of our staring countrymen. If we examine further, we shall find an extension of the same principle. The Westminster Review is the distinct promulgator and defender of the doctrines of Jeremy Bentham; and to omit minor journals, the only important exception seems to be the Foreign Quarterly, which professedly undertakes the protection of the too much neglected literature of the continent of Europe; a task perhaps, the most useful and just of them all. What then is the cause of this insidious creeping of the advocate upon the bench of justice? Is some concealed advantage sought for by thus adding to what would otherwise weary as didactic dissertation, all the piquancy and interest of an animated personal discussion? Here then is much reason to believe lies the real secret. For the sake of gaining the air of novelty, and 158 TAXATION. (SEPTEMBER judgment and discrimination. Yet calling names, personal attacks upon the author, and utter denunciations, are just as rare in French reviews as similar offences are in French society, and the whole system of criticism seems to be strictly controlled by the national politeness. By thus preserving their temper, French reviewers are enabled frequently to extract useful materials from publications which we have been accustomed to a personal interest in the criticism, the writer leaves his proper station, and, from a judge, becomes a relentless partizan. The occasion is not forgotten for the laudable task of puffing a friend or even a countryman; but the principal zest of the banquet is to be derived from the more stimulating condiments. An entire meal of sweet things would sicken the most liquorish palate; and a relish must be obtained for the confectionery by the previous methodical application and adequate sup-consider as of a very insignificant class. This may be ply of pepper,mustard and vinegar. The consequence is, that this mode of writing, instead, of a source of calm and philosophical instruction to mankind, becomes a channel for the free indulgence of the most violent dislikes and antipathies. Hence the furious passions into which the reviewer puts himself with the offending author, the style of utter denunciation, the declaration that such a brood of writers or such a body of doctrines, must be extinguished; &c. &c., with other marks both of an existing despotism and of a tyrannical administration of it. The public mind gradually becomes accustomed to the compound, and learns to consider it a thing of course. The character of Messrs Gall and Treacle, the reviewers, have been happily ridiculed in the well known and amusing novel of Headlong Hall; but the bitter and the molasses have become habitual with the reading community, and the satire of our novelist flashes harmless against a mound, to penetrate which to any dangerous extent is far beyond its keenness. To the influence of the above periodical works, extensively read, and much imitated on this side of the Atlantic, is probably mainly owing the habit, so generally indulged among us, of imagining bad authors worthy of excessive severity. We catch our opinions and practices from England, both directly and by imitative works published in our own country. That this is the real source of the evil, may perhaps be denied by some. Thus, it is not unfrequently argued that the self-conceit of a scribbler reaches such a pitch, that nothing but the last degree of severity can ever make an impression on a substance so impassive. It is enough, in reply to this merely to observe, that, in repelling scribblers, not only is mild satire inefficient, but that which is most powerful and severe is scarcely ever productive of the least effect. Those against whom it is aimed, are generally in want of the means of daily support; they apprehend themselves unlikely to succeed in any other pursuit; and it is impossible to persuade men to relinquish the efforts by which they are endeavouring to obtain the necessary comforts of life for their families. And whether, in a given instance, this be or be not the case, experience generally shows that it is not the blockhead, but the man really endowed with taste and feeling, that suffers with the blow. The individual so effectually under the influence of self-conceit as to be thereby debarred from progressive improvement and the ultimate chance of distinction, escapes unhurt, and suffers the lash to fall upon those who possess keener sensations. That personal and unmannerly reviewing is altogether unnecessary, may be proved by the example of France. In that country, satirica! comment, though less frequent than in England,is occasionally practised to its full extent; the whip is applied vigorously, although generally with seen by referring to the pages of the Revue Encyclopédique; in which articles are continually to be met with, furnished by the most learned hands, and giving an account of volumes which in England or with us would be considered far below the dignity of the critical tribunal. School books, pamphlets, and local publications are there constantly made the source from which valuable facts and reflections are drawn for those who know how to use them. And certainly, I need not fear to suggest the question whether the literature and science of France, are inferior in their tone to those of England or America, or rather, whether they are not decidedly superior? Illnatured reviewing, if I am correctly informed, is not prevalent either in Germany or Italy; seeming to be the peculiar growth of the English and Scotch soils; and there is certainly nothing, in the unexampled learning and scientific eminence of the three continental nations which I have just named, at all calculated to exhibit them as having suffered in the comparison from the want of an adequate severity in criticism. If leisure and inclination suffice, I may, at some future day, take up this subject again, and commit to paper some further remarks upon the present state of our poetry and poetical criticism; and I may possibly select a volume or two in exemplification. From the Bradford Settler. P. To the Taxable Inhabitants of Bradford County. FELLOW CITIZENS:-The time is fast approaching when it will be our duty to elect Assessors in the several townships, whose duty it will be, together with the commissioners of the county, to fix upon some uniform standard for the value of property made taxable by law, which when established will be a governing principle as to the amount of taxes to be paid by each citizen for three years: At a time then, when our county rates are likely to be increased by the establishment of two weeks court, and other causes; and in addition thereto a state tax is to be levied and property not heretofore taxable is to be taxed for state purposes-it behoves us to call our minds to the subject in order that the law which assuredly directs an equitable valuation should be strictly complied with. The law requires the commissioners and assessors when met, to form a standard to ascertain the bona fide value of all property made taxable; taking into consideration improvements, proximity to market and other advantages of situation, so that the same relative value may be observed as it respects wards, townships, &c., that is observed in the valuation in the same township. See act of 28th March 1808, which is one of the supplements of the act of April 11th, 1799; which last mentioned "Act" requires the assessors and their assistants to value the property made taxable at what it will "bona fide sell for in ready money." It is very evident therefore, that the Legislature intended, what justice requires, to wit: that property made taxable, should be rated in assessments at its cash value; and that the supplement of 1808 was intended to bring into a general view of all concerned, (and equalize) the relative value of real estate in different townships in the same county, taking into consideration "proximity to market and other advantages of situation." 159 may be difficult to prescribe. I take it however, that the true value of improved land is just that sum that it will pay the interest of after deducting from the proceeds the sum necessary to keep it in repair, to pay the expense of cultivation; and expenses of preparing for Having called your attention to the simple fact that and carrying to market-and these expenses will dethe law requires justice, and believing that justice is depend much upon the local situation as well as the quality sired by all, I now ask you to take into consideration the of the land. standard previously formed in this county, and I will attempt to show in a few words that they neither conform to justice or law. Firstly, Unseated lands throughout the county have been valued at one dollar and fifty cents per acre. Now I am bold to affirm, that every man acquainted with unimproved lands in this county, to any considerable extent, knows that simply considering their quality, there are many tracts worth five dollars per acre, and many that are not worth fifty cents. Where then I ask, in the name of justice or law, is the propriety of putting them all at one price? Again-every person knows that a tract of unseated land situated on a public road, a stream of water, near a settlement, a mill and a market is worth four times as much in ready money, by the acre, as a tract of the same quality of land situated six or eight miles from any settlement, stream, market or road and separated from them by hills almost impassable. Where then is the propriety of disregarding the advantages of situation? I do not attempt to say that the aggregate valuation of unseated lands is too high; but I do say that their relative valuations appear to me palpably unjust. Secondly, Townships have usually been classed in three classes; and the seated lands in each township or class rated in three rates. By the standard last formed, which is now before me, it appears that in the first class of townships, improved land is rated, and valued by the acre, as follows, viz. First rate, $25 00-2d rate $18 00-3d rate $5 00. Second Class. First rate, $12 00-2d rate $8 00-3d rate $4 00. First rate, $10 00-2d rate $5 00-3d rate $300. Monroe This appears to me to be wholly wrong; first, in fact, as it is unreasonable for men to fix a value upon lands which nine-tenths of them are unacquainted with, as is generally the case with the assessors aggregately: Secondly, in law, as they exercise a power manifestly gi ven by law to the several assessors and their assistants: Thirdly, in equity, as it fixes the price of improved lands at three prices not to be departed from when it is obvious that the cash value of lands is as various almost as the number of farms. One simple fact will illustrate the impropriety of that mode of classing townships and rating lands. Towanda township is in the first class of townships-first rate of land $25 per acre. township is in the second class-first rate of land $12: Towanda creek is the line between the two townships. A tract of intervale lands of like quality is divided by the creek. That part of said intervale lying in Towanda is valued at $25 per acre, and consequently is taxed more than double of the same quality in Monroe but a few perches from it, as that cannot be valued above $12 per acre. Another fact will show its unjust operation in another point of view: The assessor and assistants feel bound by the standard to rate the several lots of improved land in their township according to quality and improvements; by which means proximity to market and advantages of situation have no weight in fixing the value at which it is assessed. Enough has now been said to awaken attention: A remedy for these evils it I cannot but believe, therefore, that every reflecting citizen will see the necessity of selecting for assessors on the triennial year those men who will be most likely to comprehend this complex subject, and who possess coolness and firmness to enable them to act with prudence, judgment, and a steady eye to the great object of equal taxation in forming the standard. To fix upon the value of a few lots of improved land of which the quality of sale or productiveness, advantages of situation, expense of cultivation, &c. are clearly defined, as a standard of comparison for the assessors and their assistants in the respective towns to be guided by, appears to me to be all that is necessary on that point; which, with others governed by the same rule, would put an end to the complaints so frequently and justly made against unequal taxation. A FRIEND TO EQUITY. |