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lost himself and dismembered his party. His was a stormy course, now dazzling, now overcast, shortlived, and setting in discomfiture and obscurity. After an eccentric, but, successful career, Jefferson retired powerful, if not serene; and though partially shorn of his beams, yet leaving the national horizon, even after his departure, marked with the radiance of his influence. His defects are concealed in the glare of his success. Mr. Adams's virtues obscured in the gloom of his fall.”

The subjoined sketch of the character of col. Burr, we also regard as a model in its kind. "Burr, says our author, was a man of unquestioned abilities, but unbounded ambition. Brave, munificent, insinuating, and artful; fond of pleasure, but fonder of glory; accessible, affable and eloquent; like Rienzi and some other demagogues, studious and laborious; calm in success, undismayed at reverses; poor, in debt, subtle, popular and. intriguing." And again, "His country lost in him (Burr) a citizen of masculine and aspiring spirit, of infinite address and excellent acquirements, who, had he succeeded (in his schemes of ambition) might have been the American Cæsar; but, as he failed, is hardly entitled to the infamous celebrity of Catiline." This is drawing a likeness in living encaustic-in "thoughts that breathe, and words that burn."

We regret that Inchiquin should have contented himself with such a "bird's-eye view" of the character of general Hamilton-That he should have scarcely written the name of him whose praise should pierce the skies. Of that distinguished statesman, he gives us nothing but the following brief memento. The general, says he, was 66 a man of splendid and versatile talents, of a romantic temper, and noble sense of honour, but imprudent." This is indeed the truth, but not the whole truthIt is not decima decimarum, the tenth part of the tithe of tribute due to the memory of that illustrious man.

Next to Washington himself no man of the age was more worthy, nor was any better calculated, to add richness and splendour to the biographic page. The mind of Hamilton was formed by Nature in one of her happiest, brightest, and most energetic moments. It was cast in a mould sacred to greatness and consecrated to glory. His soul was quickened by an unu-

sual portion of Heaven's purest and most vivid fires. His bosom was the shrine of unsullied virtue and high-minded honour, into which nothing low or unworthy, profane or vicious, was ever suffered to intrude.

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For fervour of mind, persevering industry, extent, elevation, and versatility of talents, it is doubtful if any country or age has produced his equal. Assuredly his superior in these respects is no where to be found. Here and there, indeed, thinly scattered through time and space, individuals have perhaps appeared no less distinguished for particular endowments, no less conspicuous in certain given spheres of action. One has shone with equal splendour in the field, another in the cabinet This in the senate, that in the forum-One in genius, another in learning-This in the force and elegance of his pen, that in the irresistible powers of his eloquence. But Hamilton, towering above individual endowments, and alike pre-eminent in all, united in himself attributes of greatness natural and acquired, sufficient to confer distinction on many. This is not panegyric, in the usual acceptation of the term-it is not exaggerated praise; it is humble truth. A military leader equal to Hamilton, might become at once the glory and terror of his age-A financier of equal integrity and powers would be the boast of his country, and his great example might be a blessing to the world. A legislator so virtuous and profound would be entitled to the highest honours of the state. So eloquent an advocate, so able a defender of the rights of his fellow citizens, would rise to fame, attract admiration, and be crowned with the choicest benedictions of thousands. A patriot so pure in heart, so inflexible in soul, so indefatigably vigilant for the welfare of his country, would have been rewarded, in the best days of Rome, with a civic wreath. A writer so able and accomplished would receive the homage of his cotemporaries and the gratitude of posterity, while an orator so argumentative and forcible-so persuasive and fascinatingso inexhaustible in matter, so overwhelming in manner, might mould the minds of the multitude to his purposes, and rise to the summit of popular renown. How vast, then, how inconceivably pre-eminent must have been the character of him, in whom so

many features of greatness were united!-How dazzlingly bright must have been his effulgence, in whom so many beams of radiance concentred! If the poet has been applauded for applying the terms ipse agmen, a host in himself, to his favourite Achilles, whose chief excellencies were swiftness of foot, strength of person, a daring courage, and pre-eminent dexterity in the use of the javelin and sword, how much more applicable is the phrase to the illustrious Hamilton, who possessed such a constellation of superior endowments!

Had the western hemisphere never given birth to an individual of eminence, except Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson and Burr, these five personages would be alone sufficient to rescue it from the charge of having effected a degradation in the character of man. But we could add the names of hundreds of other distinguished Americans, whose virtues, talents and public services, turn into ridicule and trample into scorn the narrow minded aspersion. For let it be clearly understood, that though the vices of Burr, the faults of Jefferson, and the weaknesses and tergiversations of Adams, unquestionably detract from the pyramids of their renown, they still leave them monuments of individual greatness-montes altitudine, perenniora ære, lofty as mountains and more durable than brass.

As the two remaining letters of Inchiquin relate to matters in which our national reputation is vitally concerned, we shall reserve our analysis of them for a future number. For that number shall we also reserve our notices of certain points in which we consider the work not altogether free from faults.

C.

FOR THE PORT FOLIO.—THE SALAD, NO. V.

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My friend, Lyttleton Honeysuckle, has lately removed out of town, to prove the blessings of retirement. We have resolved, however, to maintain a regular epistolary correspondence, on fashionable topics, and as his leisure effusions may be of some service, particularly to my fair readers, I shall consult their benefit, without regarding the suggestions of fastidious casuistry.

TO CHRISTOPHER CROTCHET, ESQUIRE.

Agreeably to the determination, I communicated to you, over the last dish of coffee and toast we enjoyed together, I have fixed myself at the little villa, where I intend to lay my bones. An old bachelor, who exists ex tempore, and owes no obligation to futurity, save such as concerns his conscience, should surely be contented in any place, and trust me, dear Christopher, I have not come hither, through spleen or disappointment. My ancestors all spent the evening of their days, amid those very groves, which now surround me; and as I meet in my rambles a venerable oak, that has survived the rude tempests of ages, under whose shade, peradventure, those honest patriarchs may have refreshed their spirits, from the fervour of midsummer, I hail it as a friend, who recounts with rapture, scenes long passed away, and brings tidings of a life of innocence and ease.

Having shuffled off two score years among the polite frivolities of the town, it is this kind of life, to which I shall dedicate myself hereafter. But do not imagine, that I intend to divorce

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cheerfulness, and assume the austerity of an ascetic. Heaven forbid! Laughter is one of our particular characteristics, and I proudly appreciate myself, for belonging to the sect of laughing philosophers. The world is a farce, and he, who plays his part most merrily, should bear the palm of wisdom.

My chateau has been standing more than one century and a half; yet time does not appear so much in her ravages, as in its antique style and ornaments. It is constructed of brick, certainly the first manufactured in America according to approved tradition. The windows are high, small, and arched after the Saracenic model. Its walls are hung with tapestry, which records the whole biography of the most famous demigods; whilst the parlour ceiling gives in high relief, the melting tale of Niobe and her children, or a full chronological series of family portraits, hangs around in sullen fresco. Over the dining-room fire-place, between two ancient salmon-coloured Chinese mandarins, rests the Dutch pipe of my grandfather. He was an humourist; and had this very pipe, with three tobacco leaves, engraved upon his tomb, as an emblem of the greatest blessing beneath the stars. Does not this look like a reflection upon my grandmother?

A pleasant streamlet which meanders over beds of pebble, and presents the most picturesque scenery, forms the eastern boundary of my grounds. On a neighbouring rock of granite, there appears something like an inscription, that has puzzled the whole band of cognoscenti and dilletanti throughout the land. A certain worthy sage with a monterio cap upon his head, who had travelled to the pillars of Herculus, and inspected every rarity between Dan and Beersheba, declared it was an Hebrew sentence, and demonstrated beyond doubt, that part of the flock of Abraham had visited our continent long before Colon or even prince Madoc. My uncle Trismegistus, who bequeathed to posterity, five books on the tails of tadpoles, three on the wings of grashoppers, two on a Roman sixpence, found at the bottom of the Tyber, and twelve on the pyramids and obelisks of Egypt, maintained the aforsaid inscription to be Greek, and unless he was mistaken, it would seem, the very hand writing of Pericles

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