The reflector. (Milledgeville, Ga.) 1817-1819, November 12, 1817, Image 4

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LITERARY. “FRANCE.” BY BABY MORGAN’. » This is an entertaining book—written in a style of considerable vivacity—but with the author's usual sins against the canons of good taste. We have been entertained, however, with the grace and spirits of some of her de lineations of Parisian manners—with her rapid sketches of the interior of its versatile society, and with its various groups, rapidly shifting in her page, of fashionables, philo sophers, literati and diilcntanti; with the em inent personages of every rank and profes sion—the politicians of every line—fierce re publicans and outrageous royalists—moJeres and uitras. lint in all this dazzling crowd of greatness, though we find many anecdotes to amuse, and traits of character to admire, and accomplishments almost to envy, yet we cannot forbear blaming our fair authoress, a little, for compelling us to undergo the fatigu ing ceremony of introduction to ail her Pari sian acquaintance—of making a show of so many of those fashionable, elegant titled and scientific personages, with whom chance or notoriety brought her acquainted in the gay animated metropolis, of the most gay, ani mated people in the universe—and of abso lutely overpowering us with this blaze of all that is brilliant and witty, and illuminated in this far famed capital. We think her fortunate in havingseized the peculiar tone and spirit of French society, :\ml embodied in her pages many of those traits in the French character, which have escaped the courser perceptions of other tra velled literati whdlkave pretended to describe this singular peopre. Lady Morgan views the manners, tastes,^nd opinions and morals of France from the proper point of observa tion, and lias more of the true spirit and im partiality of a philosoph&l observer of man ■era and national cliaigictdr, than many who have greater pretensions to this distinction. She did not enter this interesting country to find exaggerated contrasts to every thing na live she had left behind, and to caricature the enjoyment—the tastes—the manners of the people she had come amongst, because she was unable to enter with the same spirit into all the feelings and conceptions peculiar to a people, whose habitudes appear to result from their fine and beautiful climate. She very properly observes, on this subject, that phy sical causes diversify the manner and enjoy ments of nations, and that nothing is more narrow minded and illiberal than to condemn as frivolous or affected, those sentiments, feelings and tastes, which stand contrasted to what we have been ourselves accustomed. We however, have to blame Lady Morgan for not generalizing this philosophical and libe ral opinion, so far as not, to find in the French manners and opinions, the reasons of the preference of their own drama to every other—with all its artificial regularity, its epigrammatic turns, its' heavy uniformity, and monotony of declamation. On the whole, we have been pleased if not delighted with the work, and think she has furnished a highly spirited sketeli of the so ciety and manners of Paris; and which would not have lost any of its attraction, if she had not thought it necessary to have enlivened her picture with quite so many bon vwts and a- necdotes of almost every body—with por traits of the scavans of Paris, who have so often sat for the likeness before—and with de scriptions of the public edifices and institu tions, with which every recent traveller into that country has literally crammed his work. Yv'e also think it not altogether fair in Lady Morgan to lay the historical erudition of her readers under so heavy a tax, by that profu sion of historical recollections which graces her text; and to surprize them in ambush by 60 many bewitching artifices of rhelorick— especially by the agency of that fascinating auxiliary to fine writing, the interjection Oh! whose patent spe'l must he found quite irre sistible in her frequently emphatic passa ges.—Southern Putriot. EXTRACT FROM THK WORK. GENERAL LA FAYETTE. General La Fayette lias not appeared in Paris, since the return of the Bourbon dy nasty to France. And I should have left that country, without having seen one of its great est ornaments, had not a flattering invitation from the Chateau La Grange enabled me to gratify a wish, long and devoutly cherished, of knowing or at least beholding, its illustri ous master. Introduced by proxy to the fa- maily of La Fayette,- by the young and ami able princess Charlotte de B* # *, we under took our journey, to La Grange with the same pleasure as the pilgrim his first unwea ried steps ro the shrine of sainted excellence. In the midst of a fertile and luxuriant wil derness, rising above prolific orchards and antiquated woods, a pi need the five towers of La Grange Blcssncau, tinged with the golden rays of the sitting sun. Through the boles of the trees appeared the pretty village of Aubepierre, once, perhaps, the dependen cy of the castle, and clustering near the pro tection of its walls. A remoter view of the village of D’Hiercs, with its gleaming river and romantic valley, was caught and Inst, alternately, in the serpentine mazes of the rugged road; which accommodated to the f grouping of the trees, wound amidst brandies adca with ripening fruit, till its rudeness suddenly subsided in Ihe, velvet lawn that im mediately surrounded the castle. The deep moat, the draw-bridge, the ivied tower and arched portals, opening into the sqn. • * court had a feudal and picturesque character,fand combined with the reserved tints and fine re pose of evening, associated with that exul tation of feeling which belonged to the mo ment preceding a first interview with those, on whom the mind lias long dwelt with admi ration or interest. We found general La Fayette surrounded by his patriarchal family;—Iris excellent son and daughter in law, his two daughters (the shearers of his dungeon in Olmutz) and their husbands; eleven grand children, and a ven erable grand uncle, the cxgrand prinrof Mal ta, with hair as white as snow, and his cross and his order worn as proudly as when he had issued forth at the head of Iris pious troops, against the “paynimfoe,” or Chris tian enemy. Such was the group tli eel us in the saloon of La Grange; the close knit circle that made our bre and our dinner party; accompanied 1* in our delightful rambles through the grounds and woods of La Grange, and constantly presen ted the most perfect unity of family interests, habits, taste, and affections. We naturally expect to find strong traces of time in the form of those, with whose name and deeds we have been long acquainted; of those who had obtained the suffrages of the world, almost before we had entered it. But, on the person of La Fayette, time lias left no impression; not a wrinkle farrows the ample brow; and Iris unbent and noble figure is still upright, hold, and vigorous, as tiic mind tiiat forms it. Grace, strength, and dignity, still distinguishes the fine person of this ex traordinary man; who, though more than forty years before the world, engaged in scenes of strange and eventful conflict, does not yet appear to have reached iris climacte ric. Bustling and active in iris farm, grace ful and elegant in his saloon, it is difficult to trace, in one of the most successful agricultu rists, and one of the most perfect fine gentle men that France has produced, ? warrior and a legislator. The patriot, however, is always disccrnahle. In the full possession of every faculty and talent lie ever possessed, the memory of M La Fayette lias all the tenacity of unworn youthful recollection; and, besides these, high views of all that is noble in the mind’s con ception. Ilis converstion is brilliantly en riched with anecdotes of all that is celebra ted, in character and event, for tin* last fif ty years. He, still talks with unwearied de light of his short visit to England, to Ills friend Mr. Fox, and dwelt on the witchery of the late dutcliess of Devonshire, witli al most boyish enthusiasm. lie speaks and writes English with the same elegance lie does his native tongue. He lias made him, self master of all that is best worth knowing, in English literature and philosophy. I ob served that his library contained many of our most eminent authors upon all subjects. Ilis elegant, and well chosen collection of books, occupies the highest apartments in one of the towers of the chateau; and, like the study of Montaigne, hangs over the farm yard of the philosophical agriculturist. “It frequently happens,*' said M. La Fayette, as we were looking out of the window at some flo ks which were moving beneath, “it frequently happens that my merinos, and my hay carts, dispute my attention with your Huuie, or our own Voltaire.” He spoke with great pleasure on the visit paid him at La Grange some years ago, by Mr. Fox and General Fitzpatrick. lie took me out, tlio morning after my arrival, to show me a tower, richly covered with ivy. “It was Mr. Fox,” said he, “who planted that ivy! I have taught my grand-children to vc novate it.” The chateau La Grange docs not, however want other points of interest.—Founded by Louis Le Gros, and occupied by the princes of Lorraine, the mark of a cannonball is still visible in one of its towers, which pen etrated tiic masonry, when attacked by Mar «lial Turenne. Here in the plain, but spa cious, salon-amanger, the pheasantry of the neighbourhood, and the domestics of jthe castle, assemble every Sunday evening in the winter, to dance to the violin of the concierge, and are regaled with cakes, and cau gucree. The General is usually, and his family are always, pr;*ent, at these rustic halls. The young people occasionally danco among the tenantry, and set the example of new steps, freshly imported by their Paris dancing-mas ter. In the summer this patriarchal rc-union takes place in the park, where a space is clared for the purpose, shaded by the lofty trees which encircle it. A thousand times, in contemplating La Fayette, in midst of his charming family, the last years of the life of the Chancellor de l'Hopital recurred to me; he, whom the naive Brantomc likens to Cato; and who loving liberty as lie hated faction, retired from a court unworthy of his virtues to his little domain of Vignay, which he cul tivated himself, Ac. Ac. Mr. Laclotte has arrived in New-York, with his print of the battle ot Ncw-Orleans, engra\- ed in France. He hag besides a portrait of gen. Jackson. The battle is twenty-six by twenty- two inches, ami its accuracy is attested to by all the officers of the army who resided at New Or leans when the drawing wis completed. BIOGRAPHY. FROM Y.’JLKi S&Uti’n MEMOIRS. GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR. He had been introduced at an early age im to the ltoyaf American or 60th Brills Q res giment, and during the seven years’ war, had seen a great deal of active service under distinguished commanders. He served at the taking of Lecsburgli under general Am herst, and the next campaign carried a pair of colours on the plains of Abraham, the day that General Wolfe bartered Iris life for deathless renown. The native ingenuity, li beral education, literary taste, and polished address of ensign St. Clair, could not escape tiic observation of the conqueror of Canada, and liis able coadjutors, Moncton, Town- shend and Marry; and the circumstance of their attentions, enlarged Iris sphere of infor mation, and gave scope to his genius and dis- piudtion. After the peace of 1763, lie sold o^B|nd entered into trade, for which the ge nerally of his nature utterly disqualified him; lie, of course, soon became disgusted with a profitless pursuit, and having married, after several vicissitudes of fortune,lie located him- geltin Ligonicr valley, west of the Alleghany ■on tains, and near the; ancient route from KTTadcpiiia to Pittsburg. In this situation tifcB American revolution found him, surroun ded by a rising family, in the enjoyment oi case and independence with the fairest pros- lhas MONITORIAL. REVERENCING THE DEITY. In many persons a seriousness ami sense of ave overspread Hip imagination whenever tko idea of the Snnbomc Being j4 presented t# their thoughts. 'This effect, which forms a considerable sec Irity against vice, lS tiis consequence not sr much of reflection, an of aahit; which lialii being generated l>y the external expressio s of reverence, which wu asc ourselves, or o serve in others, may h e destroyed by caus * opposite to these, and es pecially by tiiat 1 miliar Jovity with wiiirh some learn to spe;. of the Deity, of his atti i- outes, providence revclati ms, or worship! God hath been pie ied.no matter for what ret! son, although pro ibly for this, to forbid th* vain mention of hi name, “thou shait not take the name of the L rd (by God in vain.” Now the mention is va , when it is useless ; and it is useless, when i .s neither likely nor inten ded to serve any ;ood purpose; as when it flows from the Ji| of idle and unmeaning, or is applied upon o visions inconsistent with a- ny consideration [‘religion or devotion, or to express our ang(, our earnestness, our cou rage, or our mir ;nr indeed, when it is used at ail, except in jits of religion, or in serious and seasonable ^course upon religious sub jects. The probation of the third command ment is rccognijd by Christ, in his sermon upon the mounj which sermon adverts to poet of affluent fortune, tho foundation of j none but the iinjd parts of the Jewish law. which had been already established by his (“I nay untoyoiewear not at all; but let your intelligence, industry and enterprise. From j comm nniratinnpc yea yea, nay nay; for this peaceful abode, these sweet domestic en-{whatsoever is fire than these, coijietli ofe- joyments and flattering prospects which ac- vil.” The Jewirobably interpreted the pro~ ompanied them, lie was drawn by tiic claims hibition as resumed to the name Jehovah, if a troubled country. A man known to have the name whirjthe Deity had appointed „ti,| been a military officer and distinguished for appropriated tjliiinself. Exod. vi. 3. Tii* words of Chi t extend the prohibition be yond the tianukf God to every thing associ* ated with the lea. “Swear not, neither by knowledge and integrity could not, in those times, he concealed even by his favourite mountains, and therefore, without applica tion or expectation on his part, he received the commission of colonel in tins mont h of De cember, 177-'>, together with a letter from president Hancock, pressing him to repair immediately to Philadelphia, lie obeyed the summons, and took leave not only of his wife and children, but in effect of his fortune, to embnrk in the cause of liberty and the Uni ted Colonics. In six weeks lie completed the levy of a regiment of 750 men; six compa nies of which marched in season to join our troops before Quebec; he followed with the other four in May, and after the unlucky af fair of Three Rivers, by his counsel to gen. Sullivan at Sorel, he saved the army we had in Canada.—Subsequently to these events lie rose to the rank of major-general, and w as honored with the confidence and friendship of Gen. Washington to the day of his death. At Trenton he saved the army by the llank movement to the right, which he recommend ed in conn-il on the night the of 2d January, -1777; and at Ticonderoga, in the same year, l beheld him rising superior to the selfish obligations which fetter mankind; and by preferring the safety of the army confided to his charge, to the bloody honours which were within liis reach; lie voluntarily plunged himself into the gulpli of popular detraction. Well do I remember liis reply to me, when deploring the necessity of our retreat, “ it must he so, my boy, ’tis not in mortals to command success, hut we’il do more, we will deserve it. I know I could save my charac ter by sacrificing the army; but were I to do so, I should forfeit tiiat which the world can not restore, and which it cannot take away—. the approbation of my own conscience.” TALLEYRAND. “ I had frequently seen this celebrated per sonage and future historical character, at court; upon other public occasions, in the hustle of processions, at the nuptial pomp of Royalty, undey the holy dome of NotreDame, at the deepest tragedy,at the liveliest comedy, amidst the soiemuity of tiic royal chapel and the revelry of the feasting court: but I saw him always the same ; cold, motionless, not abstracted, hut unoccupied, not absent, but unmoved ; no tint varying the colourless hue of liis livid compaction, no expression mark ing its character ou his passive countenance, tlw figure seemed the shell of a human frame, despoiled of its organic arrangements : or if tlie heart heat or tiic brain vibrated, no pow er of penetration could reach the rccessi s of the one or guess at the working ofthe other. From the mind of this man the world seemed contemptuously shut out; and if this most im passable form and face indicated character or opinion, one would have thought at the first glance, this is surely the being w ho has said, “ speech was given to man to conceal liis thoughts.” It seemed as if the intimacy of love, tfie confidence of friendship, tiic commu nity of counsel, could never draw the mind to that countenance, which, amidst all the vicis situdes, versatility, changes, and contrasts in the life of its owner, had never been “ A book, in which men read strange things V LAOS Mouoair. KING OF HAYTI. As a soldier he is valorous and skilful; in council lie is shrewd and judicious ; in con versation familiar aW condescending ; with tlie eye of a physiognomist, he appears to read the characters of men; lie is indefatiga ble in attention to business ; in fine lie is mas ter of all details ; and persons or things with whom or vvliicli he is once acquainted, he is never known to forget. heaven, for it God’s throne; nor by the earth. for it is liis fotstool; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the ci of tlie Great King.”—Pu'ey, PROSPKCTBS Oi? TIE REFLECTOR. WHATEVER is necessary to he, said of a japer tiiat wit soon speak for itself muy'tKs owiprised in j few words. The editor is in ffeling and principle, decidedly a republican, Attached to liur political institutions, and ftieinlly to tin late, and present a.lininistra- tiins of the general government. Tiiesa sen timents will stamp the political character of lis paper ; h it he does not think himself in- fillible, or believe ail mot to he ignorant or (•■Irrupt, who differ from him in opinion. Ilia fellings are tolerant, and Ins conduct will bo literal. He will duly respect the opinions of this© who entertain sentiments different from hi) own, and allow them to be heard if their language anil manner give them a just claim t.otlie courtesy. He will endeavor to avoid pirty strife ami personal altercation, and la- Inr assiduously to soften party aSperity, to cdivinre that every difference of opinion is lift a difference of principle, and to unite, as Far as possible, the whole American family in devotion to the happiness and glory of tlie re public. Butw'hile our country, Europe and the virile world, except Spanish America, are at p ace, and while there are so few subjects jp- o) which public sentiment among ourselves i# divided, the political department of the pa- p«r must necessarily be circumscribed v. ithin, narrow limits. The editor rejoices at this, as it will give ample room and opportunity for advancing objects of vital importance to the country, such as river and canal navigation, agriculture, and the usefd and domestic arts, —for promoting tiic diffusion of scientific knowledge—inculcating a taste for elegant li terature, and for giving ardor to virtuous principles and confidence to religious truths —employments better suited to tiie editor's feelings, and which liis judgment assures him will be more beneficial to his country than a- ny otter. Tlie paper shall contain sketches of the proA (■ceilings of the National and Georgia State) Legislatures. Prices Current of Augusta, Sa vannah and Milledgrville. Must of tlie Re view?, Magazines and reports and transac tions of learned bodies in America, will be regularly examined, and their quintessence radiated from tlie •* Reflector.” In fine, it will Le tlie editor’s object “ to hold the Jilirror up to nature, to shew Virtue her feature, and Vice her image, and the very age and body of the Time liis form and pressure.” Conditions.—Tlie “ Reflector” will be pub lished, weekly, in the town of Millcdgeville, with a good type, on paper of Super-royal size, and committed to the mail, or delivered to subscribers in town, at three dollars a year, payable in advance. Advertisements that are not improper for every eye, will he inserted on the usual terms. Each year will comprise a volume, at the end of which an extra sheet will be pub lished containing a title page and a copious tahle-oY reference. It is therefore hoped tlie subscribers will preserve and bind their vo lumes. The editor flutters himself that they will be worth preserving, and that in future yearn they will he advantageously consulted as a correct history of passing events, and as a repository of much agricultural, scientific and literary matter of permanent interest and value. f J. B. HIVES.