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sound wisdom. It is fortunate for a country, when such men, endowed with such powers of persuasion, come forth to confirm her children in their attachment to her liberties, and to teach them to love her institutions and to cherish her peace.

The monument now begun at Bunker Hill, is to be built as such a monument ought to be,-in accordance with the true spirit of our institutions. The funds collected for its erection, are not gathered by compulsion of law, from a grumbling community, at the command of an accidental majority, but are made up of the free-will offerings of the people; they are bestowed as willingly as the blood of those who fought on that spot was shed. Not a dollar has been given without the best blessing of the giver; not a stone will be laid without the glad consent of the workman; the vast pile will rise not only as a monument of that important battle, but also of the patriotism, the enthusiasm, and the spontaneous munificence of American citizens.

For ourselves, we cannot but congratulate our country, that a monument is about to be reared worthy of our own greatness, and of the men and the events of our revolution. No memorials are improper for the commemoration of those events, except such as are insignificant and perishable. The ascetic spirit that would proscribe such testimonials of our reverence for the examples and memory of those who have been the authors of signal benefits to the world, would also blot out their record from the pages of history. It would obliterate all that carries down from one generation to another, dissuasives from wrong, and encouragements to right conduct. It would take from the human mind one of its best guides and strongest incentives. These monuments are but history written on the face of nature. They mingle with the associations of scenery, with the silent utterances of the earth and sky, a voice that speaks of the loftiest instances of human virtue.

"We come," says Mr. Webster, "to mark a spot, which must for ever be dear to us and our posterity. We wish, that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye hither, may behold that the place is not undistinguished, where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought. We wish, that this structure may proclaim the inagnitude and importance of that event, to every class and every age. We wish, that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection from maternal lips, and that weary and withered age may behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it suggests. We wish, that labour may look up here, and be proud, in the midst of its toil. We wish, that, in those days of disaster, which, as they come on all nations, must be expected to come on us also, desponding patriotism may turn its eye hitherward, and be assured that the foundations of our national power still stand strong. We wish, that this column,

rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of dependence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object on the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to gladden his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind him of the liberty and the glory of his country."-pp. 8, 9.

Among the greatest curses of a monarchical government, are the wars undertaken to gratify the vanity, or to serve the personal interest of its rulers, and for objects in which the people at large have no interest. Wars, it is true, may be waged by republics, but it is always for objects supposed to be essential to the welfare of the country; whenever they are convinced that it is for their interest to remain at peace, they will do so. It is matter of astonishment to us plain republicans, notwithstanding the frequency of its occurrence, that the world should have so long submitted to see its fairest portions desolated and drowned in blood, and subjected to the horrible violences, and calamities of frequent and destructive wars, merely to maintain the supposed rights of a royal house, or to augment the splendour of a throne, or to strengthen a monarch in the possession of his dominions by extending them. One would suppose that the vast multitude of those whose sons, whose fathers, whose brothers, and whose friends had been sacrificed to gratify the caprices of royalty, or who were themselves liable to be murdered in the same cause, would rise up together and put an end to this legitimate massacre. That the nations of the earth should not have done this long ago, strong as they are in themselves, and able to crush in an instant the puny masters that tread on their necks, can only be owing to a strange infatuation and stupidity of the human intellect. It is certainly, of all circumstances that relate to the great mass of the human race, the most mortifying and humbling to the pride of human reason. What has been the occasion of all the wars which have lately desolated Europe-civilized, refined, and enlightened Europe? They have been the quarrels of one tyrant with another, contending for the privilege of enslaving the nations of that populous continent. Her children have submitted to be murdered by thousands, only that they might become the vassals of the greatest murderers. All the horrible idolatries and bloody superstitions of the world are not so strange, as these self immolations to the pride and folly of kings. The former are a homage to a mysterious power, of whose might they are convinced, but of whose attributes they know little-the latter to a power intrinsically weak, and which has no strength but in their obedience. The latter can only

suppose a state of mind in the great majority of human beings, too stupid to reason about their own welfare, or to calculate their own strength. They can only be accounted for upon the same principle that we account for the subjection of strong and fierce races of brutes to the tyranny of mankind. We hope, with Mr. Webster, that this tremendous delusion is passing away.

"Wars, to maintain family alliances, to uphold or to cast down dynasties, to regulate successions to thrones, which have occupied so much room in the history of modern times, if not less likely to happen at all, will be less likely to become general and involve many nations, as the great principle shall be more and more established, that the interest of the world is peace, and its first great statute, that every nation possesses the power of establishing a government for itself. But public opinion has attained also an influence over governments, which do not admit the popular principle into their organization. A necessary respect for the judgment of the world operates, in some measure, as a control over the most unlimited forms of authority. It is owing, perhaps, to this truth, that the interesting struggle of the Greeks has been suffered to go on so long, without a direct interference, either to wrest that country from its present masters, and add it to other powers, or to execute the system of pacification by force, and with united strength, lay the neck of christian and civilized Greece at the foot of the barbarian Turk. Let us thank God that we live in an age, when something has influence besides the bayonet, and when the sternest authority does not venture to encounter the scorching power of public reproach. Any attempt of the kind I have mentioned, should be met by one universal burst of indignation.”— pp. 32, 34.

The latter half of Mr. Webster's discourse, containing the political reflections from which we have taken the last extract, is the most valuable. The other part, relating more immediately to the occasion, and including the addresses to the survivors of the Bunker Hill battle, and to the illustrious foreigner who was present at the solemnity, might have been more interesting in the delivery-this is certainly so in the perusal. We can only wish, that an opportunity had been afforded Mr. Webster, to unfold, more fully and particularly, the able and striking views he has taken of the political and moral state of the world.

The United States Literary Gazette. Nos. I-VIII. New Series. Boston. Cummings, Hilliard & Co. 1825.

EIGHT semi-monthly numbers of this interesting journal have made their appearance, since the recent alteration of its form. We have already borne testimony to the ability and skill with which the old series was conducted; and, of course,

when we commend the present steadily improving character of this Gazette, our remarks will not be construed as implying any particular deficiency in the earlier numbers of the work. We can scarcely conceive of a plan more skilfully adapted to the wants of our literary communities, than the plan of the Gazette. The Reviews are brief without being scanty, and exact without being tedious. Most of the books passed under review are American, and there are none in which Americans are not interested. The miscellaneous department embraces all such speculations as are excluded from the limits of a review. The Critical Notices are short out-lines of the plans, and general opinions of the merits of such books, as either do not deserve from their defects, or will not admit from their extent, a more minute or more methodical examination. The Intelligence is selected from various sources, and is such as is most likely to be in demand among readers of taste and information. There is also a place allotted to Original Poetry, and a Literary Advertiser furnishes at once a desirable vehicle for the advertisements of publishers, and a comprehensive view of the floating literature and current publications of the day. Such is the plan, and the execution is every way worthy of it. The leading articles are written with great taste, discrimination and impartiality. The style is spirited and flowing, sometimes elegant and highly finished, the language being good old Saxon English, and quite the reverse of the unwieldy Johnsonianism of some of our more fashionable writers. The articles of intelligence and miscellany, are prepared and served up with great attention to the taste, and with due regard to the digestion of the reader. They are very pleasant entremets, very wholesome condiments, quite enough to invite, and not enough to oppress, the stomach of the literary epicure. Of the poetry, we cannot restrain ourselves from speaking in the very highest terms. We do not know, of all the numerous English periodical works, (and as they are conducted at present this is high commendation indeed,) any one which has furnished within the same time, as much really beautiful poetry as may be found, and still continues to be found, within the columns of this Gazette. We might cite in proof of what we advance, the "April Day," the "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns," and the "Sunrise on the Hills," by H. W. L. (we know not who he is); or more particularly those exquisite morceaux-"True Greatness," "The Reign of May," "The Soul of Song," "The Grave of the Patriots," and the "Desolate City," by P., whom it would be affectation not to recognise as Dr. Percival. The typographical execution of the Gazette is highly

creditable to the exertions of the conductors of the Journal, and to the taste of the subscribers who support it, and the price is, withal, somewhat lower than our own.

In speaking thus favourably, however, of our cousin of Boston, we would not have it understood, that we always mean to coincide in his opinions. On some subjects, and with regard to some books, particularly of those written on this side of Hudson river, we shall probably have occasion to differ, and that widely; but, at present, the prospect of such differences is remote, and come what come may, we are determined to conduct any literary controversy in which we may chance to be engaged, with the greatest possible urbanity, fairness, and good feeling.

Art. XXII.—1. A Classical Dictionary, containing a copious Account of all the proper Names mentioned in ancient Authors; with the Value of Coins, Weights, and Measures used among the Greeks and Romans; and a Chronological Table. By J. LEMPRIERE. Fifth American edition; corrected and improved by CHARLES ANTHON, Adjunct Professor of Languages and Ancient Geography, in Columbia College, New-York. NewYork. Evert Duyckinck, George Long, W. B. Gilley, Collins & Co., and Collins & Hannay. 1825.

2. The Elements of Greek Grammar, by R. VALPY, D. D. F. A. S. Fifth American edition. Arranged on an improved plan, with extensive additions. By CHARLES ANTHON, Adjunct Professor of Languages, in Columbia College, NewYork. New-York. Evert Duyckinck, George Long, Collins & Co., and Collins & Hannay.

1825.

3. Exercises on the Syntax of the Greek Language. By the Rev. WILLIAM NEILSON, D. D. Corrected and enlarged. To which are subjoined, Exercises in Metaphrasis, Paraphrasis, Dialects, and Prosody: together with an Historical Sketch of the Dialects; the Doctrine of the Middle Voice, with explanatory Examples; a Statement of Opinions respecting the Greek Accents; and two Appendices, illustrative of the leading principles of the Greek Syntax. By CHARLES ANTHON, Adjunct Professor of Languages, in Columbia College, NewYork. New-York. T. & J. Swords. 1825.

We have writers who make more noise than Mr. Anthon, but we have none who are more usefully employed. We mean no disrespect, for we intend no allusion, to our more distinguished novelists and orators; but we seriously think that the least of Mr. Anthon's labours is worth ten fold the sum total of all the VOL. I.

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