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EDITOR’S DEPARTMENT.
Athens, Saturday, September 9, 1848.
A Medley on Music.
The power of Music is so universally acknow
ledged, that the poet represents Orpheus as moving
the trees, stones and floods, by this agency ; and it
i< only to be regretted that this is a pretty fable,
dnce, if Music could move such like objects in our
day, with what delightful rapidity and harmony our
grand Internal Improvements might be urged for
ward. Imagine, for a moment, a modern Orpheus,
in the person of a Rail-road Contractor —the cele
brated Mr. Whitney, for example—proceeding to
<;rade the track to the Pacific by the mere magic of
his strains. With what delightful unison would all
parts of the great opera move on ! There would be
no bars to his progress—no cliff's that he would not
scale and bring low ; and thus, pursuing the even
tenor of his way, he would charm all obstacles out of
his path, and pause not until he would plant his staff
in rest, at the extremity of his lines ! Then, too,
let us suppose another Orpheus as engineer on this
Music-made road. How easily would he propel the
loaded trains, by merely drawing his bow ! and how
delightful it would be for the passengers to dance all
the way to Oregon—infinitely exceeding the won
derful feat of the school-boys, who, beneath the
whip of their master, as we were told in boyhood,
were wont
“to dance
Out of Scotland into France!”
Hut, alas ! the story of Orpheus is a fable ; and
.Music can only move such immaterial objects as
men’3 souls and passions. We ought to except, it is
true, the influences it exerts upon the marching sol
dier —the feet of the merry dancers, and of the pit
audience at the crowded theatre; but, after all,
these are only motions of the sole ! and do not destroy
the footing we have assumed.
There are some men who “ have no music in their
I*ollls but of this class, the “ gude man” of the
Scotch poet certainly was not an example —for, ac-’
cording to the testimony of his wife,
“ His very foot had music in’t
When he came up the stair 1”
We have encountered individuals who could not
tell Old Hundred from Yankee Doodle, at least
without an ear-trumpet, and who could not, for the
life of them, see why Music was made at all, not
withstanding the positive testimonj* of the Poet on
the subject:
“When Music, heavenly maid, was young.”
Shakspeare, in very unmelodious strains, says of
such a man,
“Preposterous ass! that never read so fur,
To know the cause why music was ordained.”
Wc rejoice to be exempt from the Poet’s assum
tion, since we know well that Music was ordained
‘ikepriests and deacons, for the service of the church;
kilt it was so charming and delightful, that the world
fell in love with the maiden, and ever since she has
been move thought of and cared for, out of the church,
■han in it. Even when she is admitted to the sanc
tuary—which was her native home —she is so badly
treated, and subjected to such disguises, thaj she j
would scarcely dread execution by the common i
hang-man more than by her avowed friends. She is
minently devotional ; but when she would soar
heavenward in pure extaey, someone, who has never
read the gamut from A to C, seizes on her expaud
d wings and drags her flat to the earth. Whether
‘his proceeding be natural or not, there can be no
wanner of doubt that the author of it is a natural;
and it would not be necessary to look very sharp to
Discover such in almost every congregation. For
)ur P a H> we would most cheerfully consent to
“Tax not so bad a voice
To slander music any more than once!”
‘ ‘ ],Jll Sh, it its owner still persisted in uttering the
1 ‘ I, it would be sound justice, we think, to make
11 P a y a heavy penalty for every counterfeit note
he issued.
* his subject is too large to be compassed in an odi-
a "> and might well demand a volume. We find
V moreover, so crescendo, that we sear 4 it may be
u ” f° s t°P without too much abruptness, if we
f at once bring all its parts to a grand finale !
MUSLIM 3a II “if ££A Si ¥ S JOL % & 71? £ *
A Vindication.
We recently received a letter from a subscriber
for whose piety and Christian character we entertain
a high regard, and it was with some surprise that
wo read the following passage concerning the Ga
zette : — “ From the levity of its contents I have re
gretted the EFFECTS OF MY CHILDREN READING IT ! !!”
The exclamation points together with the italics and
capitals are our own, dear reader, and we think them
appropriate—they express, at least our honest aston.
ishment at such a charge against the Gazette from
such a source. Now we have prided ourself not a
little on the purity and high moral tone of our pa
per—nay good men and wise men too. have congrat
ulated us upon its delicacy and propriety. We have
jealously excluded any article, however amusing and
‘ taking,’ which was not perfectly free from indeli
cate allusions —and we claim to have kept the Ga
zette, as it was commenced —an organ of polite lit
erature and sound morality. Where then, in the
name of common sense, does our clerical friend find
cause for apprehension that his children will be in
jured by reading its pages 1 Because, forsooth, of
its exceeding levity ! A column or two of each num
ber is devoted to articles and scraps of humor ! This
we suppose is the great bugbear that frightens our
friend. Ilis children will laugh over these columns,
and so injure their minds ! Seriously—we defy our
correspondent to produce the weekly literary paper,
that contains fewer frivolous articles than the Ga
zette. We will not contend that there are none
which contain more brilliant ones —but simply that
none less frequently minister to a foolish taste. Our
w it and humor sparkle from the high and pure sour
ces of a Hood —a Holmes —a Neal. Our fictions,
original aud selected, have all of them conveyed val
uable truth —designed
“ to point a moral and adorn a tale.”
Our *• miscellany ” has been made up of choice pas
sages from books, and journals, embracing valuable
practical philosophy for the people—hints to the
working man, and instructive analects. Surely our
worthy censor does not expect a Literary Journal
to be filled up with theological discussions —long-
winded homilies, etc. We do not publish a Reli
gious Journal —and yet we venture to say that any
intelligent young person may gather more valuable
instruction —more intellectual aliment —more pure
and innocent pleasure from the weekly pages of our
Gazette —than from some so-called religious news
papers, and particularly from one which we could
name, and we should not wonder at all, if this very
paper is received into the family where the effects
of the Gazette are so much dreaded. We respect
fully suggest that if this be the case, the former will
serve as an antidote to the latter. By its inherent
and fearful gravity—except when spiced with bitter
ness —it will counteract the levity of the Gazette,
aud the poison will be neutralized.
We are somewhat indignant, it will be seen, that
our Journal should be regarded as a dangerous visit
or to any family, and especially when we know that
it is generally esteemed a pure and pleasant guest —
a family companion in many instances, read aloud
by the daughter or the son to the family circle. —
Dear friends —who have thanked us for the delicacy
and purity of our paper —think again, it will, per
haps, injure yourchildren !! Ye clergymen of every
name, who have bid us God-speed in our humble la
bors, are ye not supporting a source of moral defile
ment 1 and ought ye not to exclaim of it, “ Procul,
O ! procul, este profanum 1”
We write “ more in sorrow than in anger.” We
fear our clerical friend regards our paper with the
eye of prejudice—not the growth of his own honest
well-meaning heart, but the bantling of meanerspir
its, who officiously and without his authority, viola
ted the rules of courtesy, in an act which led to the
correspondence that has induced us to make these
remarks. We earnestly hope that he may not real
ize his fears about “ the effect of his children read
ing” our paper. Wc cannot help thinking they will
be the wiser and the better for it.
tJTfje SinterCcan fHoutfjln s3tess.
The Colkmbian Magazine, for Sept.. 1848. New
York: J. S. Taylor.
We received some of the September Magazines so
early in the previous month, that we supposed we
might have been overlooked in the distribution of
the Columbian. It came, however, on tho second
day of the month —a promptitude quite as strict as
we can desire, and, as if to answer our complaint of
its apparent tardiness, the Editorial department con
tains some judicious thoughts on the impropriety of
ante-dating monthly journals, and issuing in August
what is really designed for September. We ac
knowledge the justice of this, and really think that
it would be better for the monthlies to time their is
sues, so that the first of the month would bring them
to all parts of the country.
The Columbian is an excellent magazine. We do
not design to puff it, for it is unneeeessary. The
present number is a very attractive one. The prin
cipal frontispiece is a fine steel engraving of the ex
quisite tomb of Mademoiselle Canda, a beautiful and !
accomplished young lady of New York, who was
killed by being thrown from a carriage at night,
while returning from a festival nearly four years ago.
This plate is one of a series illustrative of articles
contributed by the Editor, entitled, “ Glances at
Greenwood,” the Pere la chaise of New York. Mrs.
Joseph C. Neal, Miss Mclntosh, and others contrib
ute to the number, and it is only justice to say that
the tone of the articles is pure and elevated.
<s>ur CSosstp Column.
I
I
The dog days are over gentle reader, and the fer
vent heat of Summer has abated. While we write
! this, we are reminded of the advent of Autumn, by
I the shrill whisperings of a cool wind that tosses wild
ly the already sere leaves of the shade trees—and in
a few weeks more verdure will have been succeeded
by the brown hues of the advancing Fall. The “ mel
ancholy days ” are at hand—the days when Nature
predisposes the soul of man to a mood of thoughtful
sadness. There is, to us, a touching and peculiar
tenderness in the cadences of the autumnal breezes.
They seem to be the uttered regrets of Nature that
her bright days are over —that her glories are de
parting. They are her sighs breathed out in con
sciousness of her speedy thraldom to Winter. The
poets have made this season the appropriate text of
admonition to man. It is full of gentle warnings
—reproaches to him, it may be—for suffering the
summer of life to pass without having matured all
| those fruits which should have crowned the autumn
| and winter of his age. We would merely remind our
! readers of those teachings—and hope that Autumn
will bring to them lessons of w isdom well improv
ed Punch, in his recent issues, has been
growing merry over the new aspect of affairs in Ire
; land, and he is most unmercifully poking fun at
“ Meagher of the Sword,” and his compatriots O-
Brien, Gorman and others. We uo not suppose,
| however, that our kind friend Punch —the embodi
j merit of the humanitarian principle in England, is
any more the foe, or any the less the friend, of Irish
Reform, that he caricatures Meagher as the Bobadil
of Ireland, or O’Brien as its Abd-el-Kader. Punch
has a quick eye to the ludicrous whenever it appears,
and surely the recent affairs at Boulagh and else
where, apart from the results to the cause of the in
surgents, have afforded food for his humor —which
we are pleased to take with a firm belief that he will
still be glad to strike an effectual blow for the suffer
ing people of Ireland in the right way, and at the
right time. In the same spirit which we attribute
to him, we copy this week some of his travesties,
purely for their excellent wit. Os such is the Fight
of the Kitchen Garden. Punch is “ down,” also,
upon the new army regulation of the “ shell jacket”
or “round-about” for the soldiers, as will be seen
j by that pathetic poem in our columns entitled, “ The
Officer’s Tear.” At the same time, he apologizes
j for it in the following words: “ Much as the shell
jacket may be objected to as a disfigurement to the
British officer, it is, unquestionably, an excellent
coat for action, as the wearer will certainly never
show the enemy his back!” .... We have re
cently constructed, for our own special use, a “ Co
nundrum Machine,” which wo think, when in per
fect operation, will turn out about one per minute.
We propose shortly to make liberal offers for the sup
ply of our contemporaries in this important article.
It is hardly fair to exhibit the fruits of the enter
prize, while it is yet immature, but, nevertheless, we
subjoin a handful, which we have just taken in their
rough state from the delivery-trough of the machine.
They have not been through the polishing and point
ing mill. It is proper to add, that the machine re
quires but little expenditure for raw material. As
in other cases, however, like begets like, and the na
ture of the manufactured article is like that of the
original supply. In the present instance, we threw
into the receiving-box a lot of the refuse material of
our office, such as pi, waste paper, and a few quoin
jto pay the toll! With all duo allowances for the
imperfect working of the machine, behold its first
fruits:
Why is the letter X, “ condensed,” like news by
I the Telegraph 1
j Because it is X-pressed, (expressed.)
Why is a newspaper like the Mosaic dispensat ion 1
Because it is made up of types.
Why is paper so subject to consumption 1
Because it is laid in damp sheets.
What type is a boy who is slow at his alphabet
like 1
Long-Primer.
When is a type not a type 1
When it is A-gate.
Why is a compositor like a physician I
Because he thrives by his cases.
What type is most serviceable in a revolution ? j
Canon.
When is a printer in trouble 1
When he is “ out of ‘ sorts.’ ”
Why is a printer like an inveterate hunter ?
Because he gives up all his work for the chase.
Why is a printing-press like a crowd 1
Because it’s a pressure, (press sure.)
There, they will do for a specimen. We inteialto
get up a lot with extra finish to send on for prizes, so
soon as that illustrious patron of the Conundrum,
the “great and good John Donkey,” resames pay
ment ; for We cannot believe that he has brayed h! last
not withstanding he has been missed from the “ rack”
for some time Among the street specta
cles of our quiet town, wc noticed, to-day, a bract*
of Indians practising with the bow and arrow, for the
amusement of a crowd of lookers on; and at another
time, a “ live Mexican,” diverting himself and the
citizens, by throwing the lasso, which he does with’
much expertness, and greatly to the annoyance of
the servant men and boys, as they burry past him,
only to be caught by the neck, or by the ancle, and
“ brought to,” not all standing, but some of them at
full length on the ground ! Ono of the Indians is a
licensed Methodist Preacher, and carries his hymn
book printed in the singular character of that once
noble tribe of red-men, the Cherokees. Alas for
them, that they are now almost extinct! ... A
revival of religion has been in progress in our town
for a fortnight past, exhibiting itself less in violent
excitement, than in that deep-toned solemn feeling
which becomes the house of God and the character
of truo Christianity. How much do those mistake
the true nature of spiritual exercises, who suppose
them to be accompanied, necessarily, with intense
physical emotion. As in nature, deep streams flow
the most quietly ; so in Grace—the most profound
convict ions of sin, aud the deepest emotions of joy
are generally unmarked by mere animal excitement.
We delight to see a work which is confessedly th e
fruits of the Holy Spirit—aud not the wild turbu
lence of human passions, leaving behind no lasting
tokens of good, Religion is solemn, earnest, and
in some sense awful —and men should approach it ■
as they would the dread presence of its Author:
they should embrace it with mingled love and rev
erence—cherish it as dearer than life—aud make
their lives sublime by the perpetual development of
its power on their hearts. . . Mr. Rufus W. Griswold
tho Editor of the New England Weekly Gazette,
published at Hartford, takes us to task for address
ing him as a Reverend, protesting that he bears
neither that nor any other title, prefix or suffix. He
adds, that if we mistook him for the Rev. Rufus W.
Griswold, we shall be now undeceived, and that if
we designed the appellation as a joke we were rath
er hard upon him ! Really, brother Griswold, we
wore in an error—and plead guilty to supposing yo*
and our old friend Rufus Wilmot, *• one and indivis
ible.” We, of course, stand corrected —as all errors
of the press ought to be—and are glad to learn that
if you aint the other Griswold, you are one of’em.
We are glad of your acquaintance, any how, and
console ourself by the reflection that if we did miss
an old friend we have found a new one, and hence
forward you shall be, as you wish, plain Rufus W.
Griswold, uor will we reverence you in the least! . .
Several notices to Correspondents will appear next
week.
MARRIED,
At VV alton, N. Y., on Monday, August 28, by tin*
Rev. Silas Fitch, Mr. William N. White, of this
place, and Miss Rebecca, daughter of Caleb Bene
dict, Esq., of Walton.
(Due Uoofc Satie.
C'yP Publishers and authors who may wish to have their
Books noticed in the “ Literary Gazette” will please send
copies for the editorto Burgess, Stringer it Cos., N. York,
who will send a parcel to him every week, by express.
Wiiat I Saw in California: being the Journal
of n Tour in the years 1846-7. By Edwin Bry
ant, late Alcalde of St. Francisco Ouevol. 12mo
pp. 453. New York: D. Appleton & Cos
Books of travel have a peculiar charm, and espe
cially if the author has those requisites of a good
traveler—the power of close observation and indomi
table ‘good humor. The inind of the reader is then
interested at once, and he surrenders himself to com
panionship with the author—shares his pleasures and
his dangers—sympathizes with him in all his priva
tions —rejoices in all his successes, and in short be
comes, as it were, one with him in his journeys.
We have found our excellent friend, the Alcalde
|of St. Francisco, a most charming companion lie
j has interested us and amused us, and, more than
1 this, he has much instructed us concerning a region
of country little known, but possessing the double
claim upon our attention and study of groat inherent,
attraction and recent accession to our own expansive
territory.
We shall hereafter afford our readers a glimpse t
the book in the Department commenced in this
week’s paper ; and now we will barely add, that it
contains graphic narrations of all those adventures
which tho daring emigrant ar.d boldsoldier would be
apt to encounter in California, and in times of war.
The style is graphic—the incident abundant—the
narrative succinct and agreeable. The sad and hor
rible fate of the emigrants of 1846, of whom thirty -
six perished in the mountain-snows, is absolutely
harrowing to the feelings.. The surviving actually
ate the dead bodies of their associates, andoneof the
emigrants devoured two children in two successive
days!
Or>-A number of other notices arc? unavoidably
crowded out of this number.
143