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Sir,

No. 22.

Boston, Saturday, September 27, 1806.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.

FOR THE EMERALD.

THE WANDERER,
No. XLVII.

TO THE WANDERER.

the greatest lenity, whien we discuss his introduction of supernatural agency, with an intention of the being thought real. But yet there is no doubt sufficient reason to ameliorate the censure,if not to applaud the act, even on the ground here assumed.

The endeavors of Shakespeare as of all other-writers was to please the age in which he lived;' and in the opinion of his contempoWe have already endeavored to raries the reality of witchcraft was suggest some reasons why Shake-universally admitted. And, indeed, speare should be excused for intro- even in this enlightened age, it does ducing ghosts into his dramas, deriv-not appear to be entirely eradicated ed from the essential and advantage- from belief. It is not extraordinary ous use he made of them; the futili-therefore, that a poet should seize ty, and indeed impossibility of omit-on a subject of popular interest and ting them entirely; and the state of engraft on it the story of a play. If public opinion, which greatly favor-we consider his means, the ignoed them. We are now to consider, as rance of his age, and wonderful we proposed, the degree of blame employment he gives to these perwhich this poet may deserve in sonages, we shall be ready to vindiconsequence of making witches and cate him against the most rigid critother supernatural agents the chief icism. If the laws of writing were instruments in forwarding some of unknown, he could not be required his stories; and thereby attaching to govern himself by them. If the to them a degree of reality not con- reality of witchcraft were universistent with present sentiments or sally believed, Shakespeare, at the established evidence. In making worst, did no more than apply that our estimate of Shakespeare, above belief to his own advantage. all other writers, we should grant Another reason which probably him every indulgence to which his induced our author to use the machgenius and penetration, united with inery of the witches was to complihis mexceptionable merit can enti- ment King James, 1. by coincitle him. There is no doubt we dence of opinion. This superstisubmit to various sentiments and tious prince it is well known wrote expressions coming from him, a book on the subject entitled, Dawhich in any other author would monologie. Besides, although it is excite disgust and prevent a patient impossible that any beings like hearing. And we claim for him witches could really have possessed

Y

THE EMERALD.

supernatural gifts, there is no doubt | seology, and agreement with peof the existence of those persons pular tradition; and in short, such who pretended to such powers. a consistency of character throughWitches then, in one sense, might out, that few persons would consent truly said to exist; which is a to renounce Macbeth for the few infurther vindication of Shakespeare. consistences and improbabilities asThe difference between an epic cribed to it. When we consider and a dramatic poem consists chief- the audiences, for whom Shakesly in the style of the relation. One peare had to write; possessed of being composed of persons whose minds satisfied only with the luxactions and sentiments spring im-urious wonders of fiction, we shall mediately from themselves; and the other, of persons whose actions are told by the poet. Yet, altho' Tasso has made use of magic, it has been no obstruction to his fame; on the contrary it has rather increased it.

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But after all, it may be made question whether Shakespeare ever intended to inculcate the reality of witchcraft, any more than the professed magic which he gives to Prospero in the Tempest. In Macbeth it is true he portrays a prince who believes the truth of the witches' predictions; and the predictions themselves are in some degree realized. So in Prospero, we see the influence of his magic, successful. There is no doubt that a character like Macbeth, might be drawn as if influenced by the decisions of the witches, perhaps merely as another compliment to King James; but this is no reason that the author should believe them. Banquo in the same play, says:

"The earth has bubbles as the water

hath

And these are of them."

May we
not safely think that
Shakespeare thought them bubbles
also?

think his offences to maturer knowledge, deserve commendation instead of censure. VERITAS.

The Wanderer has inserted the above, from a wish to promote useful discussion, and will be happy to receive future communications from the same hand.

From the Literary Miscellany.

CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON.

The readers of the Miscellany will not be displeased with the following concise character of the man, whose name they revere. Should the sub. ject be considered hackneyed, let it be recollected, that it ought never to die, and that few compositions in the style of a "character" of this great and good man have ever been published.

WASHINGTON Was a perfect example, his character has no paral

lel.

Modern names are diminished before him, and antiquity is rivalled. A general, statesman, magistrate, and citizen, his duties were arduous and manifold, and he sustained them without effort.

Guiding the policy of the cabinet But whatever may have been the with his intellectual, and wielding belief of the great poet, there is such the sword of battle with his physical a charm in his management of the strength, he confounded the arts, wierd sisters; such wildness in their and defeated the arms of his enethoughts and language; such ju- mies. He commanded the hearts dicious adaptation of their scene of his soldiers and the resources of of enchantment to the deeds trans- his countrymen; and his wishes acted; such peculiar felicity of phra-were immediately followed by their

exertions. His firmness was so un- | religious attention, and his shining daunted, his submission to congress talents in public were equaled only by his philosophy in domestic life.

so meekly authoritative, his decision so moderately determined, and In Washington there was an aghis exploits so prudently harrassing, gregate of excellence, rather than that, in every vicissitude of war, his any glaring peculiarity. Without friends were overruled, and his foes those flashings of genius, which overborne by his pre-eminence. serve only to dazzle the understandRising far above common concep-ing, the steady light of his intellect tion, his actions were heroic, his concentrated its rays to guide the virtues sublime. No difficulty progress of America to liberty and reached him, that he did not sur-to fame. He was one of those few mount, and no passion assailed him, characters, which are formed by that he did not overcome. Malig- God for conducting great events. nity has accused him of cruelty and An epoch in history will accompany indifference, but his tears on the the life of Washington. A warlike death of Andre, and the effusion of nation humbled by the struggles of his country's gratitude have com- a peaceful one, a government erectpletely controlled the poison of the ed by social compact, and a people imputation. flourishing under the mild influence No ignoble desires for arbitrary of those institutions, which they sway were produced by his univer-themselves had consolidated; these sal popularity, for his magnanimity are the grand concomitants, wish was more exalted, than his courage. which the name of Washington will The vile, who believed him capable be adorned for the imitation of pesof treachery, were mortified, and the terity. weak, who mistrusted human fortitile, were astonished at his noble Fesignation of power.

TRIZUTE..

BIOGRAFICAL AND LITERARY NOT)-
CES CONCERNING THE LATE DR.
JAMES BEATTIE, PROFESSOR CF
MORAL PHILOSOPHY AND LOGIC
IN THE MARESCHAL COLLEGE OP
NEW ABERDEEN.

MR. JAMES BEATTIE was born in the year 1735. His father was a smal farmer in the county of Kincardine, in the north of Scotland; one of that circumstances or their local situation in class of men,who, from the peculiar renting a few acres of land, are rather destined to be comfortable than nu, and whose ambition is gratified, if, from the produce of their soil, they a able to rear a family in an humble but reputable condition.

As the absence of the law of gravitation would involve our system in original chaos, so at the retirement of Washington the union assumed the aspect of convulsive dissolution. He appeared again, and order resumed her operation. Opposition was silenced at the mention of his Lame, and ebellion retired to her den. So controlling was his influChce, that party breathed only to expire, So patriotic were his motives, that there existed no envy, however malignant, that ever disputed his integrity, and no corruption, however hardened, that did not tremble at his frown. The powers of his authority seemed his natural habiments, yet his obedience, as a citi. zen, was a pattern for emulation. is Lorn, no person can perceive whethe The relative duties he observed with, er he shall be a wise man or a fool

It is matter of regret that so few particulars can be known concerning the infancy and childhood of such as are destined, in future life, to become distinguished by their genius and in

tclectual attainments. When a chil

He

is reared up as a common undistin- riod from which he was destined to be guished individual of the species, whe-a poet. ther he possess or possess not from na.tute that peculiar aptitude and fitness of temperament which constitute genius. After a few years, he begins to show to what class he belongs; if to the former, the latent energies of his na-ture begin to work, the hidden germs of talent are gradually unfolded, the blossoms flourish in primeval beauty, and, under auspicious circumstances, the future fruit may be expected. From this period, in the progress of genius, more or less attention is generally directed to observe its peculiarities, and mark its future developement.

Anccdotes of children are always agreeable; but those little stories which describe the character of children who possess the rudiments of genius, would be still more interesting. Few of these are ever known. But when the science of mind shall be more closely studied, [when mankind in general shall be convinced that it is necessary, in this study, to attend to the transactions of the nursery, as well as those of the field; to watch the operations of growing intel lect, as well as those of its maturer vigour; we may then expect a gratification and enlargement of curious knowledge, which at present can only be predicted.

Those symptoms, which have been mentioned as characteristic of talent, are only the effects of numerous combi- It is probable that Beattie, in delinnations of causes, which, under the in- eating the character of Edwin, in the fluence of the original temperament, Minstrel, drew it from his own, in earhave produced them. These combina-ly youth. This character is more or tions of causes, however, have altoge-less common to every boy of poetical ther escaped notice, and have no other-genius; and we may therefore suppose, wise been known to exist, but by the that the childhood of our young poet effects they are perceived to have pro-would be often spent in solitary contem. duced. These are observed and ad-plation, and in ruminating among those mired, without reflecting upon the man-objects of grandeur and rural beauty ner in which they have come to exist, which formed the delight of the young without having accurately marked those Minstrel. physical, moral, and local circumstances, which have, in conjunction, occasioned their display. But there is the greatest probability, that upon these circumstances, in early infancy, modified by the natural organization, genius and talent of every kind depend; Therefore, no precise knowledge of its origin, its growth, and natural history, can be acquired, without the most assiduous and continued attention to those várious and intermingled circumstances, from the moment of human existence, until their effects begin to be displayed.

These remarks are, perhaps, more applicable to those who have distinguished themselves in the fine arts, than to any other class of literary men, and in particular to poets.

We have no means of becoming acquainted with the dispositions and incidents which marked the childhood of Beattie; but were they all enumerated, and were it possible that we could behold him in every scene from the cradle to the school, it might then be possible, perhaps, to catch the circumstance which first strongly impressed his youthful fancy with devotion to the

luses, and to ascertain the lucky pe

"But why should I his childish feats display?
Concourse, and noise, and toil, he ever Red;
Nor car'd to mingle in the clamorous fray
Of squabbling imps; but to the forest sped,
Or foam'd at large the lonely mountain's head;
Or, where the maze of some bewilder'd stream
To deep untrodden groves his footsteps led,
There would he wander wild, till Phoebus' beam,
Shot from the western cliff, releas'd the weary team.
"Lo! where the stripling, rapt in wonder, roves
Beneath the precipice, o'erhung with pine;
And sees, on high, amidst th' encircling groves,
From cliff to cliff the foaming torrent shine;
While waters, woods, and winds, in concert join,
And echo swells the chorus to the skies:
Would Edwin his majestic scene resign
Ah! no; he better knows great Nature's charms to
For aught the huntsman's puny craft supplies!

prize.

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"In truth, he was a strange and wayward wight,
Fond of each gentle, and each dreadful scene;
In darkness, and in storm he found delight;
Nor less, than when ort ocean-wave serene
The southern sun diffus'd his dazzling shene.
Even sad vicissitude amus'd his soul,
And if a sigh would sometimes intervene,
And down his cheek a tear of pity roll,

A sigh, a tear, so sweet, he wish'd not to control."

through life. Immediately after Mr. Beattie's marriage, it is probable that his intention was to continue the profession of teaching, to endeavor to succeed his father-in-law in the grammarschool of Aberdeen, and to devote the rest of his life to this laborious occupation. But a more brilliant literary character awaited him, and he was destined, though still to continue a teacher, yet to instruct in a more dignified sphere.

After young Beattie had finished his education at the country school, he was sent to the College of New Aberdeen. His father, it is probable, was induced to bestow upon his son an university education, from some hopes of pationage from the Earl of Errol. The abilities of the young grammarian might likewise induce his father to hope, that, by the possession of learning, his son might be enabled to procure a livehood, either as a schoolmaster or a clergyman, without that degree of bodily labor which he himself had undergone. In the interval of the College ses-deeper into his affections. sions, we find young Beattie employed in teaching a school at Alloa, in Clackmananshire; an occupation common to almost every literary character in Scotland, who has risen from the lower ranks of life. In this situation, and in others similar to it, he increased his acquaintance with the principles of grammar, and acquired that accurate classsical knowledge for which he was afterwards so eminently distinguished.

Notwithstanding the severe duties which must be daily performed by a schoolmaster, and the tendency which going daily through the same irksome task must have in freezing the flow of the imagination, Mr. Beattie continued to be still smitten with the love of song: poetry was the darling pursuit of his heart, and it insinuated deeper and

;

His predilection for the muses was likely to be enhanced from this residence. There is no talent more aided by local situation than poetical fancy and the beautiful windings of the river Forth, with the amenity of its contiguous fields, would not fail to deepen im pressions which had formerly taken place, to recal and strengthen associates which other scenes had created, and to awaken all the delicate sensibilities of the heart on which poctry is founded.

He now thought of committing some of his productions to the world; and in 1760 he published a volume of original poems and translations. In 1765 appeared another poem of his, entitled

The Judgment of Paris." He was then about twenty-five years of age; his poetical talent was not yet fully concocted; and though these specimens possessed a considerable degree of poetical merit, and were well received, yet the author has since repented of appearing as a poet so early before the public, and has omitted the greater number of them in a late edition of his poems. (To be continued.)

EOLIAN ISLANDERS.

THE natives of these islands are not wanting in natural abilities, but Mr. Beattie afterwards taught an the cultivation of them. The Lischool in his native county of Kincar-parese are in general of a prompt dine; and some time after, he became and lively wit, ready to learn, of aassistant to the master of the grammar- cute penetration, and extremely deschool of Aberdeen. In this situation, an intimacy commenced betwixt the sirous of obtaining knowledge. assistant and the daughter of the schoolThe seat of the court of King Eomaster, which soon ripened into a mulus is contested in the Eolian isles, snal affection, and in the end occasion- as the birth place of Homer is in ed their marriage. Certain incidens, Greece, He is claimed by each of and in particular the important event of the islands; but the people of I ipari marriage, have often no little influence

in modifying the views, and determinare fully persuaded that the royal reing the subsequent conduct, of a person sidence of this petty sovereign was,

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