We doubt extremely whether the refined doctrines of genuine Philosophy, indicated by a venerable friend, will be either relished or cared for by the humdrum tribe of worldings. One of the translators of Persius makes a Roman wit exclaim: 4 Preach this among the dullard cits, sayst thou, And see if they thy doctrine will allow : The plodding peddler, with a hound's deep throat "A CORRESPONDENT" should adopt for his guide a line from LuCRETIUS. Juvat integros accedere fontes. The gossips whom he has consulted, are mere old women mumbling in their chimney corner. Sir WILLIAM JONES, with his wonted wisdom, says emphatically-" In history as in law, we must not follow streams,' when we may investigate fountains, nor admit any secondary proof, where primary evidence is attainable." The praise of Philadelphia loveliness is well bestowed. Whenever we advert to the appearance and accomplishments of our fair countrywomen, we cannot forbear exclaiming with THOMSON: May my song soften as thy daughters, I, And elegance of taste: the faultless form, Where the live Crimson, through the native White, The neck slight shaded, and the swelling breast; The look resistless, piercing to the soul, And BY THE SOUL INFORM'D, when, dress'd in love, She sits high-smiling in the conscious eye. An attentive perusal of Dr. ABERCROMBIE's ingenious Lecture on Accent, reminded us of a passage in a writer, whose rhetorical skill entitles his opinions to be received as the gospel of oratory. Accent is subject to the caprice of fashion. Ancient writers accented many words differently from the moderns: and not many years since, the tide of innovation tended to throw the accent as far backwards as possible, even on words which by that accentuation were rendered altogether difficult to pronounce. It may be remembered, that exertions were made to bring into vogue such uncouth accentuation as comparative and imperative; and that they nearly succeeded. Miscellany is one of those words which has retained its new accent. It is incumbent on literary men to resist such innovations as violate the prosody and destroy the harmony of the language, and render obsolete the measures of our best poets, which would otherwise remain as a fixed standard of both. Besides the literary accent marked in written language, there is also an accent relating to the tones and expression of the living voice, and understood as the general song, or recitative, in which whole sentences are delivered. This is named the provincial accent. It is the peculiar song of each county and province, and, according to the LAW OF LANGUAGE ESTABLISHED IN EVERY CAPITAL CITY, it is a stain of rusticity and an object of censure: and must be guarded against, or removed by every one who would not incur the penalty of being uncourtly. To err against the correct accentuation of particular words is altogether unpardonable, because every literary man may acquire sufficient information on this subject, partly from books, and partly from living authorities. But it must be confessed, that as to the general song or recitative of his speech, almost every man is compelled to fall into that of the majority of those with whom he converses; and whoever does not reside at the very court of London, or live with the highest class of the persons who form it, must speak more or less with a provincial accent. Even in London, the accent of the citizen differs from that of the courtier; and every province in England has a peculiar accent of its own. "The portrait of an American miser," is painted with vivid colours. No vice is more deeply branded in the Gospel, than that of covetousness, which, with equal emphasis and propriety, is described as the root of all evil. But the exhibition of such a picture will not have the smallest effect upon the muckworms to whom it is shown. Yet, although we do not choose to hang up his portrait in our gallery, we do not shrink a moment from the clear expression of our hatred and contempt for one of the most sordid and detestable passions that ever defaced and degraded the character of our country. The skinflint scoundrel, to whom we allude, cannot be adequately described by any terms, however nervous, which our correspondent or ourselves can employ. But DRYDEN, whose lofty genius regarded such a slave with habitual disdain, shall, in his immortal verse, hang him up as a scarecrow to all succeeding times. Some remote allusions having been satirically made to such a character, the poet, in a paroxysm of virtuous anger, impetuously breaks out with the following animated query: Him dost thou mean, who, spite of all his store, Is ever craving and will still be poor? Who cheats for half pence, and who doffs his coat, Ever a glutton, at another's cost, But in whose kitchen dwells perpetual frost, A verier hind than any of his knaves; VARIETY FOR THE PORT FOLIO. THAT accomplished cavalier, Sir PHILIP SIDNEY, seems to have been the delight and admiration of the age of Elizabeth, both for the variety and greatness of his genius. He who was the ornament of the university, was also the ornament of the court; and appeared with equal advantage in a field of battle, or at a tournament, in a private conversation among his friends, or in a public character as an ambassador. His talents were equally adapted to prose or verse, to original composition or translation. His Arcadia was not only admired for its novelty, but continued to be read longer than such compositions usually are, and has passed through fourteen editions. * This most exquisite and picturesque couplet probably suggested to the imitative genius of POPE some of his finest antitheses. In a description of the Sunday equestrians in Rotten Row, by Mr. SHERIDAN, in one of his poetical jeux d'esprits, we remember the following passage, alluding to the affectation of the Cockney horseman : Now his left heel, insidiously aside, Provokes the canter that he seems to chide. This, perhaps, is one of the most felicitous imitations ever effected by the wit of man. It is not at all known that the following criticism upon Dr. Beattie's Essay upon the Nature and Immutability of Truth in opposition to Scepticism and Infidelity, is from the pen of EDMUND BURKE. The right honorable author not only speaks in the tone of an accurate critic, but of a truly pious and good man. "The author of the work before us has great merit in attacking pernicious sophistry. He has gone to the bottom of his subject, and vindicated the rights of the human understanding with such precision and sagacity, with such powers of reason and investigation, as will do him honour when the system he exposes will be remembered only in his refutation. His method is extremely natural and clear: his style lively and ardent. He is no cold, uninteresting advocate for the cause he espouses. If he may sometimes be thought too warm, it may easily be forgiven, when his warmth neither hinders him from doing justice to the merits of his adversaries, where they have real merit, nor leads him to any intemperance of language, unworthy of himself or of the subject." COURAGE is one of the most dazzling of the virtues. It always challenges our admiration, and, according to Dr. Johnson, it challenges our respect too. Let the reader peruse the following anecdote, and then count his pulsations, if he has the feelings of a mere arithmetician. Sir George Lisle signalized himself upon many occasions in the civil war during the reign of Charles I, particularly in the last battle of Newbury, where, in the dusk of the evening, he led his men to the charge in his shirt, that his person might be more conspicuous. The king, who was an eye witness of his bravery, knighted him on the field of battle. In 1648, he rose for his majesty in Essex; and was one of the royalists, who so obstinately defended Colchester, and who died in its defence. This brave man, having tenderly embraced the corpse of Sir Charles Lucas, his departed friend, immediately presented himself to the soldiers, who were ready for his execution. Thinking that they stood at too great a distance, he desired them to come nearer: one of them said,."I warrant you, sir, we shall hit you." He replied, with a smile, "Friends I have been nearer you, when you have missed me." The price of The Port Folio is six dollars per annum. PRINTED FOR BRADFORD AND INSKEEP, NO. 4, SOUTH THIRDSTREET, BY SMITH AND MAXWELL. Delivered, at a public Commencement, July 27, 1809, to the senior class of the Philadelphia Academy, upon their having completed the course of study prescribed by that Institution. BY JAMES ABERCROMBIE, D. D. One of the Assistant Ministers of Christ Church and St. Peter's, -et ni Posces ante diem librum cum lumine, si non Intendes animum studiis, et REBUS HONESTIS, YOUNG GENTLEMEN, THE ample and satisfactory testimony which you yesterday exhi bited by a public examination, of your unwearied diligence while under my tuition, and of your successful progress in the various branches of English literature inculcated in this seminary-and, the unequivocal proofs you have just now given of your skill in the important arts of Reading and Public Speaking, as applied to the several species of Forensic, Dramatic, Narrative, Descriptive, and Didactic Eloquence, as well in Poetry as Prose, incontestibly evince that your labour has not been in vain, nor your time unprofitably employed. This improvement of that invaluable talent must ever be a source of high gratification to your friends, and of pleasing reflection to you. Among the various attestations of the mutability of human affairs, and the frequent abruption of human association, which will mark to VOL. II. M |