Lindley Murray should step into the opening he had provided for him. This, however, did not suit the son's wishes, which were bent upon the law. He ascribes his dislike to his father's calling to the strictness of the rule to which that parent subjected him, a strictness which led to an outbreak on the son's part, the only ripple in the placid stream of his existence. I have sometimes hesitated, respecting the propriety of communicating this little piece of my his tory. But as it is intimately connected with events of this period, and contains some traits of disposition and character in carly life, I have at length concluded to relinquish my scruples on this subject. The following is the occurrence to which I allude. I Though my father, as the events already mentioned demonstrate, had an earnest desire to promote my interest and happiness, yet he appeared to me, in some respects, and on some occasions, rather too rigorous. Among other regulations, he had, with true parental prudence, given me general directions! not to leave the house, in an evening, without preriously obtaining his approbation. I believe that his permission was generally and readily procured. But a particular instance occurred, in which, on account of his absence, I could not apply to him. was invited by an uncle to spend the evening with him; and trusting to this circumstance, and to the respectability of my company, I ventured to break the letter, though I thought not the spirit, of the injunction which had been laid up on me. The next morning, I was taken by my father into a private apartment, and remonstrated with for my disobedience. In vain were my apologies. Nothing that I could offer, was considered as an extenuation of my having broken a plain and positive command. In short, I received a very severe chastisement; and was threatened with a repetition of it, for every similar offence. Being a fad of some spirit, I felt very indignant at such treatment, under circumstances which, as I conceived, admitted of so much alleviation. I could not bear it; 1 resolved to leave my father's house, and seck a distant country, what I conceived to be an asylum, or a better fortune. Young and ardent, I did not want confidence in my own powers; and I presumed that, with health and strength which I possessed in a superior degree, I could support myself, and make my way happily through life. I meditated on my plan; and came to the resolution of taking my books and all my property with me, to a town in the interior of the country, where I had understood there was an excellent seminary, kept by a man of distinguished talents and learning. Here I purposed to remain, till I had learned the French language, which I thought would be of great use to me; and till I had acquired as much other improvement as my funds would admit. With this stock of knowledge, I presumed that 1 should set out in life under much greater advantages than I should possess by entering immediately into business, with my small portion of property,and great inexperience. I was then about fourteen years of age, My views being thus a11anged, I procured a new suit of clothes, entirely difierent from those which I had been accustomed to wear, packed up my little all and left the city, without exciting any suspicion of my design, till it was too late to prevent its accom. plishment. In a short time I arrived at the place of destination. I settled myself inmediately as a boarder in the seminary, and commenced my studies. The prospect which I entertained was so luminous and cheering, that, on the whole, I did not regret the part I had acted. Past recollections and future hopes combined to animate me. The chief uneasiness which I felt in my present situation, must have arisen from the reflection of having lost the society and attentions of a most affectionate mother, and of having occasioned sorrow to her feeling mind. But ns I had passed the Rubicon, and believed I could not be comfortable at home, I contented myself with the thought, that the pursuit of the objects before me was better calculated than any other, to produce my happiness. In this quiet retreat, I had as much enjoyment as my circumstances were adapted to convey. The pleasure of study, and the glow of a fond imagination, brightened the scenes around me. And the consciousness of a state of freedom and independence undoubtedly contributed to augment my gratifications, and to animate my youthful heart. But my continuance in this delightful situation was not of long duration. Circumstances of an apparently trivial nature concurred to overturn the vi sionary fabric I had formed, and to bring me again to the paternal roof. I had a particular friend, a youth about my own age, who resided at Philadelphia. I wished to pay him a short visit, and then resume my studies. We met according to appointment, at an inn on the road. I enjoyed his society, and communicated to him my situation and views. But before I returned to my retreat an occurrence took place which occasioned me to go to Philadelphia. When I was about to leave that city, as I passed through one of the streets, I met a gentleman who had some time before dined at my father's house. He expressed great plea sure on seeing me; and inquired when I expected to leave the city. I told him I was then on the point of setting off. He thought the occasion very fortunate for him. He had just been with a letter to the post-office; but found that he was too late. The letter, he said, was of importance; and he begged that I would deliver it with my own hand, and as as soon as I arrived at New-York, to the person for whom it was directed. Surprised by the request, and unwilling to state to him my situation, I engaged to take good care of the letter. My new residence was at Burlington, about twenty miles from Philadelphia. I travelled towards it rather pensive, and uncertain what plan to adopt respecting the letter. I believe that I sometimes thought of putting it into the post-office; sometimes, miles from the city, but long since included in its linits, where he resided for three years. He was then forced to leave this pleasant home in quest of health. After passing some time with the Mo◄ ravians at Bethlehem, he sailed to England by the advice of his physicians, in order to avoid the rigors of a New York winter. His sojourn was not designed to be extended beyond a year; but, though he earnestly desired to return to his native country, the state of his health would not permit the change, and he passed the remainder of his long life in England, at a small country-seat in the vicinity of York. The disease with which he was afflicted was a weakness in the lower limbs, which precluded him from walking, and after a time from any exercise whatever. His Christian fortitude and cheerfulness, however, enabled him to bear up against this calamity: and just at the time when his life seemed about to become useless to himself, it began to be pre-eminently useful to others. With a well educated aud active mind, he naturally turned to literature as a pursuit, and he has recorded the beneficial results to his health which this course produced. In the course of my literary labours, I found that the mental exercise which accompanied them, was not a little beneficial to my health. The motives which excited me to write, and the objects which I hoped to accomplish, were of a nature calculated to cheer the mind, and to give the animal spirits a salutary impulse. I am persuaded, that if I had suffered my time to pass away, with little or no employment, my health would have been still more impaired, my spirits depressed, and perhaps my life considerably shortened. I have therefore reason to deem it a happiness, and a source of gratitude to Divine Providence, that I was enabled, under my bodily weakness and confinement, to turn my attention to the subjects which have, for so many years, afforded ine abundant occupation. I think it is incumbent upon us, whatever may be our privations, to cast our eyes around, and endeavour to discover, whether there are not some means yet left us, of doing good to ourselves and to others; that our lights may, in some degree, shine in every situation, and, if pos I thought I had conducted my business with so much caution, that no one acquainted with me had known of my being in the city. I had, however, been noticed by some person who knew me; and, in the evening, to my great surprise, my uncle, whom I have mentioned before, paid me a visit. He treated me affectionately, and with much prudent attention: and, after some time, strenuously urged me to go with him to my father's house; but I firmly re-, fused to comply with his request. At length he told me, that my mother was greatly distressed on necount of my absence; and that I should be unkind and undutiful, if I did not see her. This made a strong impression upon me. I resolved, therefore, to spend a short time with her, and then return to my lodgings The meeting which I had with my dear and tender parent was truly affecting to me. Every thing that passed, evinced the great affection she had for me, and the sorrow into which my departure from home had plunged her. After I had been some time in the house, my father unexpectedly came in: and my embarrassment, under these circumstances, may easily be conceived. It was, however, instantly removed, by his approaching me in the most affectionate manner. He saluted me very tenderly; and expressed great satisfaction on seeing me again. Every degree of resentment was immediately dissipated. I felt myself happy, in perceiv-sible, be extinguished only with our lives The ing the pleasure which my society could afford to persons so intimately connected with me, and to who:n I was so much indebted. We spent the evening together in love and harmony: and I abandoned entirely, without a moment's hesitation, the idea of leaving a house and family, which were now dearer to me than ever. He resumed his studies under the charge of a private tutor, and his father at last granted him permission to pursue the profession of his choice. He was a fellow student with John Jay; was admitted and commenced practice with good success, which continued until the commencement of the American Revolution, when finding nothing to do in the courts, und wishing to recruit his health, he retired with his wife (he had become a married man some years before) to Islip, Long Island. Here he remained four years, and then becoming tired of country sports and comparative inaction, returned to the city and entered into mercantile business with such success, that at the close of the war he found himself possessed of a handsome property. He retired from business to a beautiful country-seat, Bellevue, then a few quantum of good which, under such circumstances, He His debut in literature was a modest one. prepared a work, The Power of Religion on the Mind, giving the testimony of many eminent men "in recommendation of religion, as the great promoter of our happiness here and hereafter," and printed five hundred copies at his own expense, which he presented anonymously to the principal inhabitants of the vicinity. It was so well received that the author was induced to publish it in the ordinary manner. It met with a large sale; other editions were called for, and on the issue of the sixth, he was induced to put his name to the title-page. His next work was the English Grammar. This originated in the following manner. A school had been established in York for the education of young ladies. Mr. Murray was desirous that the close study of the English language should form a portion of the course pursued. As the young teachers at first employed themselves needed instruction in this branch of knowledge, he assembled them in his own house for oral instruction. They found themselves so much benefited by his exertions, that they urged him to write an English grammar for the use of their pupils. This he consented to do. The work was published in 1795, and was followed by a volume of exercises, and a key explanatory of their construction. These were published in 1797, and an abridgment, by the author, of his grammar for the use of schools appeared the same year. The series was completed by the issue of a volume of extracts from the best authors of the language, under the title of the English Reader. Ile soon after published a volume of similar character devoted to French literature. The author's autobiography closes with the year 1809. It was continued by the Friend to whom it was addressed, Elizabeth Frank, to the close of his long life of 81 years, February 16, 1826. His wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, survived him. They had no children. His will provided for the investment of his property, after the death of his wife, in the hands of trustees in the city of New York, and the expenditure of its yearly income In liberating black people who may be held in slavery, assisting them when freed, and giving their descendants or the descendants of other black persons, suitable education: in promoting the civilization and instruction of the Indians of North America; in the purchase and distribution of books tending to promote piety and virtue, and the truth of Christianity, and it is his wish that "The Power of Religion on the Mind, in Retirement, Affliction, and at the Approach of Death," with the author's latest corrections and improvements, may form a considerable part of those books; and in assisting and relieving the poor of any description, in any manner that may be judged proper, especially those who are sober, industrious, and of good character. The lines "To my Wife" have been generally attributed to Lindley Murray. They were published in the Southern Literary Messenger, for October, 1836, from a manuscript copy, endorsed Lindley Murray to his Wife, "apparently written as far back as 1783," found among a parcel of letters from the sisters of the grammarian to a lady friend. They, however, appear, with the exception of the last stanza, in the Weccamical Chaplet, a selection of original poetry, comprising smaller Poems, serious and comic; classical trifles; sonnets, inscriptions, and epitaphs; songs and ballads; mock heroics; epigrams, fragments, &c. Edited by George Huddesford. Cr. 8vo., pp. 223, 6s. bds. Leigh & Sotheby, 1805; a collection which derives its name from the circunstance, that all its contributors were educated at Winchester school, founded by William of Wickham. The Poem in question, with the title, "Song-Mutual Love," is quoted as one of the novelties, or new poems, of this publication in the Monthly Review, for February, 1806; and is stated to be, with many of • Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lindley Murray, in a Beries of Letters, written by himself; with a preface, and a continuation of the Memoirs. By Elizabeth Frank. New York. 1587. the best pieces of the volume, by Huddesford, who is spoken of as a “legitimate (literary) descendant of Mat Prior." Huddesford published in 1801, Poems, including Salmagundi, Topsy Turvy, Bubble and Squeak, and Crambe Repetita, Lond. 1801. 2 vols. 8vo. 12s. Most of these had previously appeared in a separate form. The shorter pieces are interspersed with poems by his friends. In 1805, he published his Champignons du Diable, or Imperial Mushrooms, a mock heroic poem in five cantos; including a Conference between the Pope and tho Devil, on his Holiness' Visit to Paris, illustrated with Notes. 12mo. (Noticed in Monthly Review, 38, p. 272.) Huddesford's Poems show great ease and spirit in versification, with abundant wit. He seems to have thrown off effusions on subjects of the day, being probably a gentleinan of easy fortune, writing for amusement. Ilis Chaplet is dedi cated by permission to Lord Loughborough: and among his school associates at Winchester were the present Archbishop of Canterbury, and other distinguished persons.* Ilis claim to the verses in question appears superior to that of Murray, but neither deserves any greater praise than that of an adapter, as the lines in question are taken with slight alteration from the song, "Matrimonial Happiness," by John Lapraik, a Scotchman, who was born in 1727; published a volume of Poems in 1778; and died the keeper of the postoffice at the village of Muirkirk, in 1807. Burns hearing the song sung at a "rockin, to ca' the crack and weave the stockin," was so struck with its beauty, that he addressed a rhyming epistle to the author. In it he says, There was ae sang amang the rest, It thrill'd the heart strings through the breast, I've scarce heard ought described sae weel, They tould me 'twas an odd kind chiel The letter, as it well might, led to a correspondence, which includes two other poetical Epistles Burns says that by Burns,t between the poets. Lapraik "often told him that he composed the song one day when his wife had been fretting o'er their misfortunes," which consisted in the loss of their small estate at Dalfram, near Muirkirk;"which little property he was obliged to sell, in consequence of some connexion, as security, for some persons concerned in that villanous bubble, The Ayr Bank." Having thus traced the poem to the original source, we present it in its successive stages. MATRIMONIAL HAPPINESS. [By John Laprait.] When I upon thy bosom lean, And fondly clasp thee a' my ain, • Southern Lit. Messenger, April, 1887. Chambers's Life and Works of Burna, 1. 115, 119, 189. Book of Scottish Song, p. 801. I glory in the sacred ties That make us one, wha ance were twain. A mutual flame inspires us baith, The tender look, the meltin kiss: I ken thy wish is me to please; That numbers on us look and gaze; Weel pleased they see our happy days, Nor envy's selfinds aught to blame; And aye, when weary cares arise, Thy bosom still shall be my hame. And, if that aught disturb my dear, United still her heart and mine; SONG MUTUAL LOVE [From the Weccamical Chaplet.] I glory in the sacred ties, One mutual flame inspires our bliss, Even years have not destroyed; Have I a wish? 'tis all for thee. And bid us live and love. If cares arise and cares will come,Thy bosom is my softest home; I'll lull me there to rest; And is there aught disturbs my fair? I'll bid her sigh out every care, And lose it in my breast. Additional stanza, added in the copy attributed to Lindley Murray: Have I a wish 'tis all her own; "Tis death to be disjoin'd JOIN JAY. THE literary reputation of Jay is incidental to his political career, and attaches to the national state papers which he sent forth from the Continental Congress, which did much to prepare the way for American liberty, and to his contributions to the Federalist, by which he assisted in permanently securing that liberty which he was one of the first to promote. His "Address to the people of Great Britain," in 1774, called forth the admiration of Jefferson. It is marked by moral earnestness and patriotic fervor, quali ties shared by his address to the inhabitants of Canada and the people of Ireland. The appeal of the Convention of the State of New York to the people in 1776, and the address of Congress to the country in 1799, meeting the financial condition of the times, and his Address to the people of the State of New York, in support of the adoption of the Constitution, are his other chief productions of this kind. He wrote five papers of the Federalist; the second, third, fourth, and fifth, on Dangers from foreign force and influence, and the sixty-fourth on the treatymaking power of the senate. He would have furnished others had he not received an injury in the interim, in his vindication of the law in the Doctors' mob of the city of New York. Jonn Jarg Of Huguenot descent, Jay was a native of the city of New York, born December 12, 1745, a graduate of Columbia College, a delegate to the first revolutionary Congress at the age of twentyeight, three years later Chief Justice of his State, Minister of Spain and negotiator of the peace with Great Britain, Secretary of State, Chief Justice of the United States, Governor of his own State: abundant honors and employment, which still left him nearly thirty years of rural retirement at Bedford, where he died May 17, 1829, at the age of eighty-four. Moral worth and sober judgment have had no finer exemplification in our best political annals. His life, written by his son William Jay, contains a Selection from his Correspondence. FROM THE ADDRESS OF THE NEW YORK CONVENTION, 1776. "Under the auspices and direction of Divine Providence, your forefathers removed to the wilds and wilderness of America. By their industry, they made it fruitful-and by their virtue, a happy country. And we should still have enjoyed the blessings of peace and plenty, if we had not forgot ten the source from which these blessings flowed; and permitted our country to be contaminated by the many shameful vices which have prevailed among us. "It is a well known truth, that no virtuous people were ever oppressed; and it is also true, that a Scourge was never wanting to those of an opposite character. Even the Jews, those favourites of Heaven, met with the frowns, whenever they for got the smiles of their benevolent Creator. By tyrants of Egypt, of Babylon, of Syria, and of Rome, they were severely chastised; and those tyrants themselves, when they had executed the vengeance of Almighty God, their own crimes bursting on their own heads, received the rewards justly due to their violation of the sacred rights of mankind. "You were born equally free with the Jews, and have as good a right to be exempted from the arbitrary domination of Britain, as they had from the invasions of Egypt, Babylon, Syria, or Rome. But they, for their wickedness, were permitted to be scourged by the latter; and we, for our wickedness, are scourged by tyrants as cruel and im placable as those. Our case, however, is peculiarly distinguished from theirs. Their enemies were strangers, unenlightened, and bound to them by no. 376 091 264 CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. But it is "You may be told that your forts have been taken; your country ravaged; and that your armies have retreated; and that, therefore, God is not with you. It is true, that some forts have been taken, that our country hath been ravaged, and that our Maker is displeased with us. also true, that the King of Heaven is not, like the king of Britain, implacable. If we turn from our sins, He will turn from his anger. Then will our arms be crowned with success, and the pride and power of our enemies, like the arrogance and pride of Nebuchadnezzar, will vanish away. Let a general reformation of manners take place-let universal charity, public spirit, and private virtue be inculcated, encouraged, and practised. Unite in preparing for a vigorous defence of your country, as if all depended on your own exertions. And when you have done all things, then rely upon the good Providence of Almighty God for success, in full confidence that without his blessing, all our efforts will inevitably fail. * "Cease, then, to desire the flesh-pots of Egypt, and remember her task-masters and oppression. No longer hesitate about rejecting all dependence on a king who will rule you with a rod of iron: freedom is now in your power-value the heavenly gift: remember, that if you dare to neglect or despise it, you offer an insult to the Divine bestower-nor despair of keeping it. After the armies of Rome had been repeatedly defeated by Haunibal, that imperial city was besieged by this brave and experienced general, at the head of a numerous and victorious army. But, so far were her glorious citizens from being dismayed by the loss of so many battles, and of all their country-so confident were they in their own virtue and the protection of Heaven, that the very land on which the Carthaginians were encamped, was sold at public auction for more than the usual price. These heroic citizens disdained to receive his protections, or to regard his proclamations. They invoked the protection of the Supreme Being-they bravely defended their city with undaunted courage-they repelled the enemy and recovered their country. Blush, then, ye degenerate spirits, who give all over for lost, because your enemies have marched through three or four counties in this and a neighbouring State-ye who basely fly to have the yoke of slavery fixed on your necks, and to swear that you and your chil dren shall be slaves for ever. * Rouse, brave citizens! Do your duty like men; and be persuaded that Divine Providence will not permit this western world to be involved in the horrors of slavery. Consider, that from the earliest ages of the world, religion, liberty, and reason have been bending their course towards the setting sun. The holy gospels are yet to be preached in these western regions; and we have the highest reason to believe that the Almighty will not suffer slavery and the gospel to go hand in hand. It cannot, it will not be. "But if there be any among us, dead to all sense of honour, and love of their country; if deaf to all the calls of liberty, virtue, and religion; if forgetful of the magnanimity of their ancestors, and the happiness of their children; if neither the examples nor the success of other nations-the dictates of reason and of nature; or the great duties they owe to their God, themselves, and their posterity, have any effect upon them-if neither the injuries they have received, the prize they are contending for, the future blessings or curses of their children-the applause or the reproach of all mankind-the approbation or displeasure of the Great Judge-or the happiness or misery consequent upon their conduct, in this and a future state, can move them; then let them be assured, that they deserve to be slaves, and are entitled to nothing but anguish and tribulation. Let them banish from their remembrance the reputation, the freedom, and the happiness they have inherited from their forefathers. Let them forget every duty, human and divine; remember not that they have children: and beware how they call to mind the justice of the Supreme Being: let them go into captivity, like the idolatrous and disobedient Jews; and be a reproach and a by-word among the nations. But we think better things of you, we believe and are persuaded that you will do your duty like men, and cheerfully refer your cause to the great and righteous Judge. If success crown your efforts, all the blessings of freemen will be your reward. If you fall in the contest, you will be happy with God in heaven." BENJAMIN RUSH. THE benevolent and ingenious Dr. Benjamin Rush, the friend of Franklin, was born on his father's farm near Philadelphia, December 24, 1745. One of his ancestors, John Rush, a captain of horse under Cromwell, emigrated from England to the state among its first settlers. In his boyhood he was fortunate, after the death of his father, in being placed under the instruction of his aunt's husband, Dr. Finley, afterwards President of Princeton, then at Nottingham, a country town in Maryland, remarkable for the simplicity and purity of its people. At fourteen he entered the College at Princeton, then presided over by the cloquent and patriotic Davies. He was graduated the next year, studied medicine with Dr. Redman, translated the aphorisms of Hippocrates, and wrote a Eulogy on the Rev. Gilbert Tennent, the associate of Whitefield, at Philadelphia, passed to Edinburgh, where he took his degree in 1768, returning the next year to America after a residence in London and Paris. He then became connected with the College of Philadelphia as Lecturer on Chemistry, and afterwards, when that institution became the University of Pennsylvania, as a Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine, delivering courses of medical lectures for fortyfour years. His theories, and the story of his success in the treatment of the yellow fever of 1793, in which he derived aid from the acumen of Dr. Mitchell of Virginia,* of which he published an account in 1794, belong to the annals of medical science. His political principles were displayed in his zeal on the breaking out of the Revolution, when John Mitchell, an Englishman, Fellow of the Royal Society, settled in Virginia as physician about 1700, wrote on botany, and also an Essay on the Causes of the Different Colours of People of Different Climates, attributing the variation to climate, published in the Philosophical Transactions. His pa per on the Yellow Fever of Virginia, in MS., was communicated by Franklin to Rush, who made one of its hints on the use of purgatives, the basis of his medical practice in that disease. He died about 1750.-Ramsay's Eulogy on Rush, Thacher's Med. Biog. Miller's Retrospect, 1, 815. |