an intercourse of several years' growth was about to terminate, an intercourse connected with pleasant as well as painful reminiscences on my part, and, as I hoped, unattended by the indulgence of disagreeable remembrances on the part of others. I gladly embraced a belief that the labor bestowed on the Magazine had produced something to redeem the laborer from utter forgetfulness. The pain of leavetaking would have been trebly sharpened without the confiding persuasion of a still-enduring communion through the channel of memory. What else is alldreaded annihilation, but the termless suspension of that commerce, which exchanges thought for thought, and draws soul to soul by the recorded memorials of courteous and affectionate sympathy?

For the favor with which the Magazine was originally received by the public, and the respectful and flattering notices it received from cotemporaries of the press, it would have been churlish to withhold an acknowledgement of gratefulness and thanks. It met with as much approbation as should satisfy an ordinary desire of popularity. When every avenue to public favor is crowded with eager and aspiring rivals, he who would avoid the imputation of overweening vanity or disgusting conceit, must be content with that share of the spoils which the impartial tribunal of popular opinion is pleased to assign to his efforts. My farewell to the subscribers, " for one, for all, and ever," closed with language like the following:

"If, in the execution of the power belonging to an editor, contributions of merit have been rejected, or improper decisions on the literary productions of the

times have been promulgated, the procedure was the effect of erroneous judgement, and not of wayward design or malignancy of purpose. If, in attempting to expose the quackeries of authorship, to ridicule the pretensions of the coxcomb, to put down the arrogance of conceited dullness, and to correct the absurdities of a tasteless affectation, the dignity of the critic has been sacrificed to the gratification of spleen or caprice, a suitable punishment must unavoidably follow the transgression, and we shall be the last to complain of the operation of retributive justice. To look for unqualified approbation, would be idle. Consciousness of imperfection in our most successful efforts reconciles us to admonition; we would not resent even undeserved rebuke from the voice of friendship and goodnature. The frowns of malice and the sneers of envy have done us no injury; and, as they have not been sufficient to provoke a retaliation, they shall not deprive us of our privilege of quitting the stage with a serene temper and undisturbed indifference.

"The faults of this work, thus far, are attributable to the subscriber. Its merits, if there be any, must be shared with others. We would, if we were authorized, enumerate a list of contributors, whose names would add lustre to any periodical publication. The applause

* There may be no impropriety now in revealing the names of the writers referred to. The Rev. N. L. Frothingham wrote the article in the first number, "On the Consideration due to the Mechanic Arts;" "The Progress of Exaggeration," "Curiosity baffled," and the biographical notice of President Kirkland were written by the Hon. Edward Everett: "-"Statesmen, their rareness and importance, Daniel Webster," by Judge Story; "The late Joseph Natterstrom," by William Austin of Charlestown; - Letters "On the Fine Arts," "Literary Portraits," and many other articles, by George S. Hillard;"The Limping Philosopher," by Richard Hildreth; -"The Schoolmaster," by Professor Longfellow; -"Our Birds," by Samuel Kettell;

it obtained on its first appearance, and the support and protection it received through the earliest period of its existence, were won by the labors of a young man, to whom, as he is removed from the reach of praise or reproach, an allusion may be pardoned. • The sea his body, heaven his spirit holds.'* But the object of this valedictory address would be but half accomplished, and injustice would be done to the memory of the loved and lost, were this acknowledgement omitted. While penning these lines, we feel the awful but invisible presence of the departed, mysteriously and affectionately calling for this recognition of his claim, this last appeal to the remembrance of friends he respected and loved. In his name as well as our own, for him, whose youthful pulse beat strong at every thought of his country's fame, whose manly heart swelled high at the anticipated prosperity of his loved New-England, whose mental faculties expanded and brightened with the hope of adding to the reputation and sharing in the glory of his native city, his surviving partner and representative bids: farewell to the readers and to the pages of the NewEngland Magazine."

"Hebrew Poetry," the "Morality of Macbeth," "Folly Dancing on the Bible," and other articles, by the Rev. Leonard Withington; "Letters from Ohio," by Timothy Walker, of Cincinnati ; — contributions, too numerous to be particularized, by Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, Oliver W. Holmes, William J. Snelling, John A. Bolles, Rev. William Croswell, Miss H. F. Gould, Dr. Samuel G. Howe, John O. Sargent, Epes Sargent, Park Benjamin, Silas P. Holbrook ; Joseph R. Chandler and Mathew Carey of Philadelphia; Dr. B. Waterhouse and Sidney Willard of Cambridge; - Rev. A. P. Peabody, then a resident graduate of Harvard College;-beside many, whose names I am not able to recall, but whose contributions may have been equally valuable and popular.

* Part of the inscription on a cenotaph at Mount Auburn, erected to the memory of Edwin Buckingham, by members of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, of which he was a member.

SILAS PINCKNEY HOLBROOK,

Who has been before mentioned as a correspondent of the New-England Galaxy, contributed liberally to the columns of the Courier. He was born at Wrentham in the county of Norfolk, June 1, 1797. He was prepared for college at Day's academy in that town, except for a few months, in which he pursued his preparatory studies under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Williams at South-Wrentham. He was graduated at Brown University in 1815, and studied law in Boston with the late Hon. William Sullivan, and in Philadelphia with Mr. Meredith. In 1822, he commenced the practice of the law in Boston, (having previously visited South-Carolina and the Western states,) but soon after removed to Medfield, in the neighborhood of his native town. His time was divided, in great part, between Medfield and Boston, although he occasionally visited his relatives in South-Carolina, and made a voyage to Europe, where he passed a few months in visiting England, France, and Italy. He left Boston about the middle of March, 1835, for Charleston, S. C. During a long and tedious passage in one of the packets, he caught a severe cold, which caused an irritation of the lungs. He recovered, however, in a great measure, and was about to return to Boston, when he was exposed to a violent shower, which renewed his complaint, and carried him off in a few days. He died on the 27th of May, 1835. Mr. Hol. brook was one of the most popular correspondents that contributed to the Courier. His various articles, if collected, would fill several volumes. From his

numerous contributions, scattered through the files from the beginning of 1828 till just before his death, the following are selected :

*

66 WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS MAN!"

Our hopes are a cheat, and our joys are a dream;
We are dew on the flowers, we are flies on the stream;
And downward we float, without caution or fear,
For the current is smooth, though the cataract is near.

And sooner with evil than good we comply,
For we love for a season, but hate till we die ;
We forgive in our foes any injury past,

But those that we injure we pardon the last.

What is Friendship? — a wish to make use of our friends; Ambition? bad means to accomplish our ends :

What is Love? - he will find in his bosom who delves,

'Tis that ardent affection we feel for ourselves.

Our Love is all selfish; our Honor is Pride;

For many a wretch like a hero has died:

Our Wit is but Malice, and who tries to smother
The laugh it excites at the cost of another?

Our Reason; what is it? I am blushing for mine,

• It has led me in many a devious line;

Or, if Reason and Passion blow contrary ways,
Pray, which is the impulse the vessel obeys?

* Mr. Holbrook was the writer of a series of letters entitled "Letters from a Boston Merchant,"-another series, entitled "Recollections of Japan,". another, "Recollections of China," and a fourth, "Recollections of Turkey," -all of which were published in the Courier. The facts, which formed the basis of these "recollections" were, of course, obtained from books, he having never visited the countries described, except some of those noticed in the "Letters from a Boston Merchant." A year or two before his death, he made a selection from these articles, which he published in a duodecimo volume, under the title of "Sketches by a Traveler."