1831.1 WESTERN PENITENTIARY. Western Penitentiary---Continued. 175 No.offence. When sentenced. By whom sentenced. Court QS. Alleg'y co. Court Q.S. Alleg'y co. do REMARKS. Discharged by expiration of sentence, Nov. 7, 1830. do do do Discharged by expiration of sentence, April 28, 1830. do do do do do Discharged by expiration of sentence, Feb. 21, 1830. do do Discharged by expiration of sentence, April 21, 1830. Mayor's C. Pittsburg. | Discharged by expiration of sentence, Nov. 1, 1830. C. Q. S. Armstrong co. CRIMES. do do do There have been only three recommitments in this penitentiary, to wit: William V. Stevens, Francis A. Stratton, and James Bradley; the others designated as being for repeated offences have been inmates of other penitentiaries; those designated as uncertain, or as old offenders, there has been no direct information received of their having before been in a penitentiary, but common report, or their conduct and demeanor in prison is such as to induce the belief that their present commitment is not for the first offence. To the Board of Inspectors of the Western Penitentiary. JOHN PATTERSON, WARDEN, is, the vote of the delegation of a particular State, rep- | State) vested in the upper and lower houses of Assembly' resented the wishes of the people of that State. ments. conjointly with the Governor, the Legislative power. That of course gave them the power of passing any laws not inconsistent with the principles of the Constitution of the state. The Constitution of the United States having vested exclusive jurisdiction over certain matters in the general government, no one can deny that the grant of legislative power to the State, is, in these particulars, limited and controlled by the Constitution. And that neither the state government, nor the whole people of the State, can act in regard to those matters. Away then with the farce of state sovereignty, which implies Again, undoubtedly, they are mistaken who set up a claim of state sovereignty. Sovereignty does not exist, in any proper meaning of the term, in the state governIt here, resides in the people, and in the people alone. Both the state and the general governments are the creatures of the people's sovereignty. Their voice has proclaimed both the one and the other. In all respects in which the Constitutions of the two differ, the former must give way—because by the formation of a general government and Constitution (formed, too, after the state constitutions) the people of the Unit-uncontrolled, absolute power. ed States have proclaimed it to be the supreme law of the whole land. The states therefore, since the Constitution, have had their sovereignty controlled; and their authority limited by that instrument to those matters, which have not been placed within the sphere of the powers of the general government of the Union. Let me put an example. A state Constitution (of any The question then becomes one of construction of a written instrument. Is the particular power in question delegated to the government of the Union? Undoubtedly there must be some body to determine questions of this kind, and in a way which shall be definitive and authoritative. Whether the judicial department of the Union shall have this authority or any one state, out of the whole that compose the Union, is the question presented by "nullification," I take it to be a question of Union or disunion-for I think that if the doctrine were to be carried out in practice, and each state were of itself to undertake to pronounce upon a law and refuse obedience, the miserable remedy of an appeal to three-fourths of the States (a mode not pointed out in the Constitution, and of course, one which would not be obligatory on the refractory state) would not preserve the Union from instant dissolution. The position that the parties to a contract have a right to judge of the construction and extent of it and of its infraction, is contrary to all analogy and all law. Who ever heard of a contract in a government of laws, in any civilized community-where there was not some power to decide in case the parties to it disagree? Nothing more could be claimed for two perfectly distinct and sovereign communities, (in Europe, for instance) which surely these States are not. A branch of the general government deciding a disputed point is not a decision by a party to the contract. The general government is a creature of the contract-sprang from it: and as it was foreseen that it would be absurd and lead to ruinous consequences, if either of the parties to the compact (viz. the people of any state) were to be the judges of its construction, from the necessity of the case, the power was vested in a branch of this general government formed by the people of the whole country. Even supposing it to be absurd in theory, which in this case I by no means admit, that a government should judge of the extent of its own powers, the absurdity or not of the theory is not the question-it is, have the people of all the states, when they adopted the Constitution, vested in the Union this power. If they have, there is an end of discussion, and the judiciary department of the general government must construe the extent of the powers of the Union. The privilege could not be lodged in safer hands, I have probably said enough for one essay on so grave a question; I shall reserve other remarks for another opportunity. My readers shall have variety. I will lead them "From grave to gay, from lively to severe." PORT OF PHILADELPHIA. Where from. England, British W. Indies, Brit. Amer. Colonies, Danish West Indies, (SEPTEMBER Outward Coast wise-111 vessels-Tonnage, 9114. CHAMBERSBURG. (Penn.) Aug. 30, 1831. On Monday, the 22d inst. a greater rain fell in the northwest section of this county, than has been experienced there for twenty or thirty years. In Path Valley the dam of Mount Pleasant Iron Works, on that stream, the Conococheague rose upwards of nine feet. Part of and the dam of Roxbury Forge, on the Conodoguinet, we learn, are swept off, and no doubt many mills and bridges, lower down on these streams, have been damaged by the flood. Considerable damage was sustainA word on the motto I have chosen. It beautifully drafts in the neighborhood of the mountain. The tored in Roxbury and Strasburg, and along all the runs and represents the government of the union. A govern- rents from the mountain so suddenly inundated the ment formed from many disjointed, disunited states: in-houses in low situations in Strasburg, that horses had to capable of promoting the prosperity and happiness of a people, who had fought for independence and had begun to find it worthless without union. A government emanating from the people of these States, who were convinced of its essential connexion with their happiness; and which is calculated if not destroyed by rude assaults, to procure for those who are fortunate enough to dwell beneath its benignant sway, as great felicity as any human institutions are capable of conferring. UMBRA. A LARGE AND SOUND BEET.-On Saturday last, (14th inst.) Mr. Alexander Young showed us a Beet which measured 21 inches in circumference, and weighed ten pounds and a half-Pittsburg Gaz. be used to carry out the inhabitants.—This is the fourth great freshet that has occurred in this county the present season. The consequences of so much rain are a superabundance of vegetation, and the prevalence of autumnal fevers.-Franklin Repository. Coal.-A bed of bituminous coal has recently been discovered in the neighbourhood of Blossburg, Tioga county. The stratum is said to be extensive, seven feet in thickness, and entirely free from slate. WESTERN PENITENTIARY.-In Vol. 7, page 181, was inserted the report of the Inspectors of the Western Penitentiary-the tables accompanying that document, have only lately come into our possession and are now inserted. We question the policy of publishing to the world, the names of those unfortunate beings. HAZARD'S REGISTER OF PENNSYLVANIA. DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF EVERY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STATE. VOL. VIII.-NO. 12. PHILADELPHIA, SEPT. 17, 1831. From the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. EARLY POETS AND POETRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. The name of the REV. NATHANIEL EVANS follows of course that of his friend Godfrey. Even besides the ties of friendship they are united by the congeniality of their tastes and spirits, and by the melancholy similarity of their untimely deaths. Immedi NO. 194. They are generally either the productions of his boyhood, or playful addresses to his friends; but a few more studied performances are of a higher character, and several of the odes are fine and spirited pieces. The whole collection may be praised for elegant versification and refined sentiment; and they display a chaste imagination and amiable sensibility, which must excite more just admiration of their author than the more brilliant genius of some greater poets can inspire. We find, printed with the poems of Evans, several lively and witty pieces addressed to him by a lady, who Mr. Evans was born in Philadelphia, on the 8th of accompanied him in his voyage from England, and In these June, 1742, and spent about six years in the Academy, whose friendship he enjoyed till his death." which he entered shortly after it was first opened, and verses, she assumed the poetic name of Laura, but I before the establishment of the collegiate part of that believe I may venture to call her MISS ELIZABETH institution. He left the Academy to serve an appren- GREME. This lady was born in this province, in the ticeship in a merchant's counting house, the duties of year 1739. She was daughter of Græme, the first phywhich, it is said, he neglected in his devotion to litera- sician of his time in Pennsylvania, and grand-daughter ture and poetry. He returned, therefore, to the col- of Sir W. Keith. She was married to a Scotch gentlelege, and applied himself to the study of philosophy man, Mr. Hugh Ferguson. Miss Græme received an and the sciences until the commencement in May 1765; admirable education, and her mind early discovered an when, in consideration of his great merit and promising astonishing aptitude for every kind of learning. At genius, he was complimented with a diploma for the her father's house she was surrounded by the most redegree of master of arts; though he had not previously fined and literary society of America; and both here taken the bachelor's degree, in consequence of the and in England she enjoyed the intimacy, and gained the admiration of some of the most accomplished schoabove mentioned interruption of his studies. Her journal of travels, her ately after the commencement he embarked for Eng-lars and wits of the age. land, where, on the nomination of the Society for Pro- letters, and many other of her prose compositions, were pagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, he was admitted admired for their vivacity and elegance; and her poems, into holy orders by the bishop of London, Dr. Terrick, among which is to be found a translation of Telemachus who is said to have expressed great satisfaction with his into English verse, though they cannot be considered essays on theological subjects. He returned to Phila- either polished or harmonious, serve to confirm the hodelphia, in December, 1765, and immediately entered nonourable traditions we have received respecting her upon the duties of a mission at Gloucester county, New character and her mind. Never did a poet possess a Jersey, to which he had been appointed; but "alas," readier pen than Mrs. Ferguson. She wrote on every says Dr. Smith, "just lived long enough to show, by the occasion, and on almost every subject; and if the publigoodness of his temper, the purity of his morals, the cation of her manuscripts are called for, I have no cheerfulness and affability of his conversation, the sub-doubt that a volume might easily be collected; but she limity and soundness of his doctrines, and the warmth cannot be said to have been a favourite of the Muses, of his pulpit compositions, how well he was qualified and her lines are not perfumed with that "fragant necfor the sacred office to which he had wholly devoted tar," which those divinities are said to sprinkle over the himself." He died, October 29th, 1767, at the age of verses of their friends. They are frequently sprightly and feeling, but they want the animation of poetic ar twenty-five years. His poems, after his death, were collected, and, in 1772, published by subscription un- dour, and even their fluency is not synonymous with graceful ease. Mrs. Ferguson is said to have been a der the care of Dr. Smith. It has been said, and I presume with justice, that the lady of fine talents, of refined delicacy, exquisite senverses of Evans are not remarkable for energy or origi-sibility, and romantic generosity; several of her friends nality. I should, however, be unwilling to exclude him are still living, who remember with delight her noble or others whose compositions are not distinguished for disposition, her agreeable conversation, and her amusthese qualities from the list of poets. Fire and novelty ing eccentricities. Having introduced the name of one poetess, I take do not seem to be indispensable in every poetical composition, though the popular taste may sometimes de- perhaps the best occasion of mentioning two ladies, spise every thing that does not surprise and bewilder. whose poems are dated in almost every year of the last century, and whose venerable age extended almost to Our senses are frequently taken off their guard by a rhapsody of measured nonsense, and too often mistake our own times. For the following biographical sketchthe shocks and confusion of discordant ideas for the in-es, I am indebted to one of the most elegant and accomspired eruptions of poetic frenzy; while pure, exalted, and intelligible sentiments, clothed in polished and graceful verses, are condemned as wanting all that distinguishes poetry from prose. Evans might truly have said of his own compositions A nostris procul est omnis vesica libellis: plished women of our age-herself the author of some 178 EARLY POETS AND POETRY OF PENNSYLVANIA. she never omitted any of the peculiar duties of her day and station. She came to this country with her parents in 1714, being then 17 years of age, and lived with them for some years in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, where her talents and understanding were justly appreciated; and she laid the foundation of many friendships with distinguished individuals and families, which continued through her life. She removed with her father's family among the first settlers on the banks of the Susquehanna, then the utmost frontier settlement of Pennsylvania; where they lived, surrounded by the Indians, and in the kindest friendship with them; and where, after her mother's death, the care of a large family, and the education of its youthful members, successively devolved upon her: yet she attended to the cultivation of her own mind and talents to a very uncommon degree. She attained several languages, and knew many sciences, without the smallest degree of pedantry or affectation. She was uncommonl agreeable in conversation; indeed she was equalled but by few, and her letters were highly and deservedly admired, Her character throughout was excellent. She lived nearly to the age of ninety years." The only specimens of Susanna Wright's poetry which I have seen have a deeply religious character, but they are written with great force and feeling as well as elegance, and more than sustain her character for poetical talents, intellectual improvement, and moral worth. "HANNAH GRIFFITTS was the daughter of Thomas Griffitts, formerly mayor of Philadelphia, and by her mother, who was the daughter of Isaac Norris, sen. descended from Thomas Lloyd, one of the most distinguished of the first settlers of Pennsylvania, who came over with William Penn, in 1782." [SEPTEMBER for poetical talents. He seems to have incited and encouraged every boyish attempt at rhyme, and we probably owe to his instigations a number of excellent compositions which did honour to the college and the city. Every commencement or exhibition, every occasion of general rejoicing or grief, was an opportunity for the public pronunciation of dialogues, odes, or elegies, some of which possess great beauty and animation, and are far above the ordinary capacity of collegians. It would be tedious to designate the principal anonymous effusions which were produced at the university, but I must be permitted to notice a poem in blank verse, entitled "Pennsylvania," by a student at the college of Philadelphia. It describes the province as labouring under the distresses and terrors of warfare, and calls on Britain to rescue her helpless colony from the ravages of the French and Indians. It was printed in 1756. Franklin, in his advertisement, justly commends the judgment, genius, and public spirit with which it is written; and as the production of a boy it is really remarkable for the smoothness of its verses, the power of its descriptions, and the excellence of its taste. Prefixed to a funeral sermon of Dr. Smith's upon Mr. W. T. Martin, a member of the first class which entered the university, are five elegiacal effusions by as many of his classmates, inscribed to the Rev. Provost. Each of these young gentlemen afterwards attained some distinction in our commonwealth. Several of them quit. ted their alma-mater with extensive learning, and a fine taste for literature; but in one alone the poetic seed appears to have produced much fruit. One of the elegies was the production of JACOB DUCHE. It is easy, polished, and harmonious, which appear to be the characteristics of all the author's compositions. After his graduation he was received into holy orders, and was elected assistant minister of Christ Church and St. Peter's. As a preacher he enjoyed great popularity, for his voice wa full and musical, his elocution uncommonly graceful, and his sermons highly "She was a woman of excellent abilities, and distinguished for the ease and accuracy with which she ex pressed herself both in conversation and with her pen. She had a talent for writing verses which I have never seen equalled for its readiness, the numbers really flow-finished and oratorical. He advocated at first the coing from her pen as the natural effusion of her thoughts. I have a great many of her poetical effusions, chiefly devotional, or else in the elegiac strain on the death of her friends." * lonial resistance of British oppression, but was alarmed when that resistance became open rebellion, and on the occupation of Philadelphia by the enemy, attached himself to them. He published the letters of Tamoc Caspepina and some sermons. We have also his commencement exercise, a dialogue in blank verse, on the accession of George II, which is an harmonious and accurate composition. It is said that he afterwards oc "She was a truly pious and virtuous woman, and was supported by that piety through a season of afflictive privation in the loss of her sight; for she lived to extreme old age, and was quite blind for several of the latter years of her life. But her senses otherwise were retained to the last, and her fine faculties seemed unim-etry which I have met with, is entitled A Poem on vispaired by age. She was born in Philadelphia, in 1728, and died in the same city, in 1817." "She was remarkable for the readiness of her wit and repartee, and for the ease and fluency of her conversa sation. In her, a generous and lofty spirit was finely tempered by a Christian humility. She wrote a great deal, but was averse to her pieces appearing in print, which they sometimes did, though without her knowledge," Several of Hannah Griffitts' pieces are evidence of talents of a superior order. They all breathe a spirit of piety and purity which commards our love, and some of them rise to a high elevation of devotional sublimity. Her versification is easy and elegant, and her poetry generally reflects with added lustre the charming traits of her exalted and polished mind. The talents and learning which were collected in the faculty of our university immediately after its establishment, have been often noticed, and must always excite admiration and surprize. The encouragement given in that institution to the political talents of its earhest pupils, has not been, I believe, so generally known. DR. SMITH was not only a critic of the first taste; but, if we may judge from one or two short compositions which are printed,* might have gained some reputation The most considerable specimen of Dr. Smith's po. iting the Academy of Philadelphia, June, 1753, printed in folio, and consisting of near 300 lines. It may be praised for harmony and correctness; but neither the subject nor the occasion were calculated to inspire poetical ideas, and the author's imagination was not, it seems, able to supply them. He, however, casts a "glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven," and, in the latter place perceives the venerable form of Penn, who oddly enough With sky tinged mantle clad, and lifted hands, In act to touch the string majestic stands. The founder of our province "pours forth his raptures on the lyre," and after expressing his satisfaction at the advancement in wealth, wisdom, and virtue, which his fair colony has made, concludes with much excellent advice. At the time he composed this piece; the Rev. Mr. Smith was tutor in the family of Col. Martin, of Long Island. The distinguished place he holds in the politi cal and literary history of our colony, has rendered the events of his life familiar to us, and I will not repeat what is elsewhere to be fonnd in print. He published several other pieces of poetry before and after the date of that just noticed. One of them may be seen prefix. ed to Evan's poems, and one or two, I believe, in the collection of his works. 1831.] EARLY POETS AND POETRY OF PENNSYLVANIA casionally wrote verses, but their loss is not to be regretted, as at most they could only have merited praise for fluency and elegance. Another of these elegies, and one of the best, was written by Mr. PAUL JACKSON. This young gentleman was very much distinguished at the university for his genius; and his profound classical learning procured for him the Professorship of Languages very soon after his graduation. When in 1758 an expedition against the French forts and settlements was undertaken, he accepted a chaplaincy in the provincial troops, and resigned his seat to Mr. Beveridge. He was afterwards settled in Chester county, where he died. One or two of Mr. Jackson's poetical exercises were printed, and are still preserved. They are prettily written, but bear no proportion to his reputed talents; and cannot be adduced as evidence of the learning and accomplishments for which he has been praised. 179 materials, verses which are easy, sprightly, and agreeable, is not a little creditable to him. He is represented to have been a man of good dispositions, and of a fine mind. He was very much distinguished at college, and at an early age gained great honor by his "Essay on the Advantages of a Perpetual Union between Great Britain and her Colonies," which is in print. He studied law at Philadelphia, but had not long been admitted to practice when he emigrated to Louisiana, where we learn that he acquired a fortune, and married a daughter of the Spanish governor. ALEXANDER ALEXANDER quitted college with a high reputation for classical attainments, and soon after his commencement was appointed a tutor in that institution; but he had not long held this situation when he was involved in pecuniary embarrassments, and obliged to quit the city, to which he never returned. The greater part of Beveridge's Odes were done into English verse by Mr. Alexander. The translation appears to do almost too much justice to the original; and the verses, though relieved from the cumbrous weight of the Roman costume, seem not to have recovered the natural ease of the English poetry. The versification, however, is neither rude nor unharmonious. Some prefatory verses "on Mr. Beveridge's Poetical Performances" are bet ter executed, and at times move with great propriety and gracefulness. We owe the fifth of these elegiac compositions to the pen of FRANCIS HOPKINSON. It is impossible, within the limits of this essay, to do justice to the character of that accomplished gentleman. He was a profound w yer, an enlightened judge, and a patriotic statesman. His scholarship was various, and, indeed, there was no subject which the quickness and versatility of his talents did not enable him to grasp; for, to use the words of one of the most sagacious and discriminating of his cotemporaries, "he excelled in music and poetry, and had THOMAS COOMBE, Jun. was son of a respectable citi some knowledge of painting. But these arts did not zen of Philadelphia, who held a small office in the cusmonopolize the powers of his mind; further, he was well toms. At college he was more distinguished by his skilled in many practical and useful sciences, particular- belles lettres taste than for his classical learning. He ly mathematics and natural philosophy, and he had a afterwards studied theology, and about 1770 was admitgeneral acquaintance with the principles of anatomy, ted into priest's orders. On his return from England chemistry, and natural history. But his forte was hu- he was elected as an assistant minister of Christ Church mour and satire, in both of which he was not surpassed and St. Peter's. Like the Rev. Mr. Duchè he was a ed by Lucian, Swift, or Rabelais. These extraordinary whig at the commencement of our revolutionary strug powers were converted to the advancement of the inte- gle, and like him was alarmed, and abandoned the party rests of patriotism,virtue and science. "Many of Mr. Hop- when congress abjured their allegiance to the king. We kinson's poetical pieces have been collected and print- find his name amongst those of our fellow citizens who, ed. Their subjects are mostly occasional, and though in September, 1777, were banished by the legislature they were admirably calculated to produce a temporary of Pennsylvania to Staunton in Virginia, but he obtained effect, they cannot be fully appreciated at present. permission to remain, under plea of sickness. Before When the object of a satire is unknown, or the point of the end of the war he went to England, and abandoned an epigram forgotten, their flatness is almost intolerable. his country for ever. In England he was patronized by With all these disadvantages the smaller poetic com- the Earl of Carlisle, who made him his chaplain, and on positions of Mr. Hopkinsion have not yet lost their his elevation to the Vice-royalty of Ireland, procured charm, and many of his extemporary productions, like him a small benefice in that country. Mr. Coombe afthe "Battle of the Kegs," have too much humour soon terwards attained greater preferment in the church, to lose their popularity. Several pieces written in his and we find him named a Prebendary of Canterbury, youth for the American Magazine, have been praised and one of the chaplains to his majesty. He died a few forelegance and sprightliness;and even the "l'Allegro" years since. The translations by Mr. Coombe display and "il Penseros?," though they cannot be compared some command of language and facility of versification. with their inimitable prototypes, will receive the appro- In 1775 he dedicated to Dr. Goldsmith a poem, entitled bation of ever-lover of poetry. His larger pieces are "Edwin, or the Emigrant," which is a continuation of the "Treaty, a Poem," which, according to the author's the story of the Deserted Village. It will surprise no one own words, "was written on the banks of the Lehigh that it has few of the charms of that delightful producin the year 1761, when he served as secretary in a sol- tion, but it is not without poetic talent, and the lines lemn conference held between the government of Penn- may be praised for great softness and harmony. The sylvania and the chiefs of several Indian Nations," and piece was written, it is said, to discourage emigration to "Science," a poem written in the course of the follow-this country, by a dreadful picture of its inhabitants, its ing year. They contain poetry of a high order, and situation, and its prospects, an object which at the time with all the rest of his pieces have received the praise excited no small probation. With this poem were of critics for propriety of expression, ease of versifica-printed "The Unfortunate Lovers," and a few smaller tion, and harmony of numbers. Francis Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia in 1737, and died in his native city on the 9th of May 1791. With the Latin poems of Mr. Beveridge, are also printed the translations into English verse, and one or two original pieces, by several students of the University, who he says was still under age. As some of these translations exhibit considerable taste and talents, I need not apologise for introducing the names of their authors, STEPHEN WATTS, ALEXANDER ALEXANDER, and THOMAS COOMBE, Jun. I presume it is no great praise of Mr. Watts' translations, to say they are better than the original Latin of Beveridge; but that he was able to form out of such pieces, which do not possess much merit. The American Magazine has been already referred to. Of the first series, published in 1758, there appeared only 13 Nos., and ten years afterwards, when it was revived, it existed but nine months. It contained a great variety of poetry, the best of which was produced by Godfrey, Hopkinson and others, whose names have occurred above. There were, however, a good many anonymous contributions of considerable merit, but which, as the age was fruitful of tolerable poetry, it is unnecessary more particularly to notice. the same time a number of poems were separately published, of which I may mention "The Squabble, a Pastoral Eclogue," written upon the occasion of the dis About |