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A ,c%4- W > 66 /*? Drew down in showers the choicest blessings there. With voice subdued the benediction said, Heaven pours its blessing on each humble hea l, When each departs, a happier home to find, With blissful heart, and thought to Heaven re signed, Well mailed to fight the battle stern of life, And armed for victory in the deadly strife. Amid yon oaks that stretch their giant forms Proud toward the sky, and still defy the storms, There oft I’ve heard devotion’s accents rise, And push its heaving pulses toward the skies. Beneath the dome whose arch went swelling high, Whose upward concave was the smiling sky, There have I seen the gathering thousands meet, And heard their voice the rapturous song repeat, Till earth and sky responded to their praise, As glory o’er the prospect seemed to blaze. Here oft I’ve heard the penitential moan, Here have I heard the stricken sinners groan, And when the Spirit spake the pardon found, Their shouts triumphant cleaved the air around. Here oft the clariou voice of one was heard, Whose burning words the hearts of thousands stirred, As well he pleaded Calvary’s holy cause, And Heaven’s design, and God’s mysterious laws. His gleaming eye upon his hearers fell, And searched the heart of every listener well; His words directed with unerring aim, The coldest heart would kindle to the flame. .Now all the Woes the man of God pronounced, And now the flesh and all of sin denounced, Convicting power descending from on high, Like molten metal from a flaming sky. As griefs remorseful bursting bosoms tear, The weeping mourners rend the burdened air, While terror in the starting pupil glares, And hope for mercy calls, and then despairs. As when the bolt of angry thunder falls, And all the heaving multitude appals, Strikes some to earth, while others prostrate bow, These with affright, those with a blasted brow; So fell his words upon the trembling crowd, Like Sinai’s thunder from the rended cloud. Joseph Addison. ‘‘Joseph Addison, one of the ornaments of English literature, was the son of dean Addison, and was born at Milston in 1672. At his birth, it is said that he was supposed to be dead-born, and was accordingly laid out. The Charter House, at which he be came acquainted with Steele, and the Col leges of Queen’s and Magdalen at Oxford, have the honor of his education. The first written proofs which he gave of his tal ents were Latin poems of very superior ele gance. Some English poems, a translation of the 4th Georgic, ana a Discourse on the Georgies, sustained his reputation, and his praise of King William gained him the patronage of Lord Somers. In 1699, Som ers obtained for him an annual pension of d£300 to enable him to travel in Italy. In __T H E COUNTRYMAN, that country he remained nearly 3 years, when, his pension being lost by the death of King William, necessity drove him home. During his absence, he collected materials foi a narrative of his tour, and wrote his Letter to Lord Halifax, his Dialogues on Medals, and 4 acts of Cato. On his re turn, he published liis Travels. It was Dot, however, till 1704 that fortune began to smile upon him. At the suggestion of Hal ifax, he was then employed to celebrate in verse the splendid victory of Blenheim ; and, as soon as he had shown his patrons the simile of the angel, he was rewarded with the place of Commissioner of Appeals. In 1705, he attended Lord Halifax to Han over ; in 1706, he was appointed undersec retary of state ; and in 1709, he went over to Ireland as secretary to the lord lieuten ant, the Marquis of Wharton, and also re ceived the almost sinecure office of keeper of the records at Dublin, with a salary of <££300 a year. During this period, he wrote the opera of Rosamond, and contributed a prologue aud some scenes to Steele’s Ten der Husband. The Tatler was begun by Steele while Addison was in Ireland, and without the knowledge of the latter, who, however, soon detected his friend, and came forward to his aid. In 1711, in conjunction with Steele, he began the Spectator, which alone would immortalize his name. As an essayist, he subsequently contributed to the Guardian, the Lover, the Whig Exam iner, the Freeholder, and the Old Whig. In 1713, bis Cato, to which Pope gave a prologue, was brought upon the stage, and the state of parties at that time, at least as much as its intrinsic merit, ensured its com plete success. It did not, however, escape from the critics, among whom Dennis was conspicuous for his acuteness and bitter ness. This tragedy, the comedy of the Drummer, and the opera of Rosamond, constitute the whole of Addison’s dramatic efforts. He projected a tragedy on the death of Socrates, but went no further. In 1716, after a long courtship, he married the countess dowager of Warwick ; a union which was productive of nothing but one daughter and infelicity. The lady was a woman vain of her rank, who had the folly to think that she had honored a commno- er of genius by giving him her hand ; and the result was such as was naturally to be expected. Though Hymen frowned on him, his ambition was gratified in the fol lowing year by the post of secretary of state. But the toil, his own inaptitude for business, and bis sufferings from asthma,! soon compelled liim to resign it, and be re ceived a yearly pension of <£61500. After bis retirement, he completed his Treatise on the Christian Religion, and was enga ged in a political contest with his old friend Steele, whom he treated with a contemp tuous asperity that cannot easily be defend ed. He died at Holland House, on the 17th of June, 1719. In his last moments, he sent for Lord Warwick, whom he was anxious to reclaim from irregular habits and erroneous opinions, and, pressing his hand, faintly said, ‘ I have sent for you that you may see in what peace a Christian can die.’ As a man, Addison was of blame less morals. As a statesman, be was ill cal culated for office, for he had not the nerve, promptitude of action, and readiness of re source, which are more necessary in such a character than even the loftier intellectual powers. As a poet and dramatist, he cannot aspire to more than a place in the second class, and, perhaps, not a high place in that class. But as an essayist, he stands unrival led for ethic instructiveness, skill in deline ating life and manners, exquisite lmmor, fine imagination, and a dulcet, graceful, idi omatic flow of language, which amply jus tifies the eulogium of Johnson, that ‘ who ever wishes to attain an English style, fa miliar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days aud uights to the volumes of Addison.’ ” . “ Impromptu.” I thank you very much for your good opinion, of The Countryman and The Chairman expressed in such glowing terms. But it would be indelicate on my part to publish your communication in my own journal. Hence it is respectfully declined. “Autumn ” is respectfully declined. “ It is with gratitude as with honesty among traders : it helps to carry on busi ness : and we pay, not because we ought, but in order to find easier credit another time.” Declined. Several articlos are declined on account of their too great length. Correspondents for The Countryman must remember that I do not want long articles, but only par agraphs, and they must be packed brim ful of ideas, and good ideas. “We make a virtue of moderation, in order to bound the ambition of great men, and to comfort moderate geniuses for their slender fortune, aud their slender merit.” “There are people fated to he fools. They not only commit follies by choice, but are even constrained to do so by fortune.”