by the firm hand of his early youth, and the trembling one of his old age. On its inner cover it bears the date of his entrance to the Penolopen Latin School, that of his initiation into Princeton College, and also that of his graduation. Through it are versified translations of different Latin verses; and in trembling pencil-strokes of later days, the following lines are traced: "I am growing fit, I hope, for a better world, of which the light of the sun is but a shadow; for I doubt not but God's works here, are what come nearest to his works there; and that a true relish of the beauties of nature is the most easy preparation and gentlest transition to an enjoyment of those of heaven: I'm endeavoring to put my mind into as quiet a situation as I can, to be ready to receive that stroke which, I believe, is coming upon me, and have fully resigned myself to yield to it. The separation of my soul and body is what I could think of with less pain; for I am sure he that made it will take care of it, and in whatever state he pleases it shall be, that state must be right. But I cannot think without tears of being separated from my friends, when their condition is so doubtful, that they may want even such assistance as mine. Sure, it is more merciful to take from us after death all memory of what we loved or pursued here: for else what a torment would it be to a spirit, still to love those creatures it is quite divided from! Unless we suppose, that in a more exalted life, all that we esteemed in this imperfect state will affect us no more, than what we lov'd in our infancy concerns us now." 1 On the inner side of the last cover is written, "Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view Who stand upon the threshold of the new." "Stronger by weakness, wiser men become As they draw near to their eternal home." 2 1 Letters of Alexander Pope. 2 Waller. F Chapter Eleventh OR reasons already given, we deem it best to give the criticisms of others upon the poetry of Freneau, and begin with the remarks of a London publisher1 who, notwithstanding Freneau's hostile feeling towards all that savored in the least of Great Britain, has had the magnanimity to overlook all such sentiment, and bring before the public, of his own free will, a reproduction of the volume of Freneau's poems, as published by Francis Bailey of Philadelphia in the year 1786. In his introduction to the British public he says: "It has been remarked with justice that, in the states which have arisen out of the British settlements in America, literature as a profession is a thing of recent growth. Till within the present century, it was only taken up as a matter of taste, and at leisure, from time to time, by those whose lives were absorbed in other duties and other pursuits, and most frequently took its character from temporary feelings and impulses. It hence happens that a good proportion of the best of the older American literature was temporary in its character, and has become more or less obsolete even in America, and it is only very considerable excellence that has preserved some of it from comparative oblivion. To this latter class belongs the poet whose works are given in the present volume, and who arrived at fame amidst the turbulence of the revolutionary period." After giving a synopsis of the poet's varied career, he mentions his first notable poem composed in his 1 John Russell Smith, Soho Sq., London, 1861. "His sophomore year while at Nassau Hall, Princeton College, which, he says, is distinguished both by the vigor and the correctness of its versification. poetic satires against the royalists established his reputation in America, and all these show great talent; and some of his severer satires, such as that on his literary opponent whom he addresses under the name of Mac Swiggin, are characterized by great power." As this poem gives an insight into Philip's character, his intense love for nature in her varied forms, his lack of desire for fame, yet innate knowledge of his own powers, did he desire to gain it, his scorn for all that was low or base in mankind, and his conscious superiority over a rival whom he has it in the power of his two-edged sword to annihilate; and furthermore as it illustrates that which we have already said: his being as much dreaded by a foe, as he was loved as a friend, we will quote some portions of it : "Long have I sat on this disastrous shore, Devoted madman! what inspir'd thy rage, What could thy slanderous pen with malice arm? From thy own envy thy destruction flows! Bless'd be our western world To raise a poet's fancy and his fire, its scenes conspire Lo, blue-topt mountains to the skies ascend! See mighty streams meandering to the main ! She aids me, shields me, bears me on her wings, Beyond the miscreants that my peace molest, Hail, great Mac Swiggen! foe to honest fame, Aspers'd like me, who would not grieve and rage! Who would not burn, Mac Swiggen to engage ? Him and his friends, a mean, designing race, I, singly I, must combat face to face Alone I stand to meet the foul-mouth'd train, Assisted by no poets of the plain, Whose timorous Muses cannot swell their theme Beyond a meadow or a purling stream Were not my breast impervious to despair And did not Clio reign unrivall'd there, I must expire beneath the ungenerous host, And dullness triumph o'er a poet lost. Come on, Mac Swiggen, come your muse is willing, Your prose is merry, but your verse is killing - Sound void of sense betrays the unmeaning chimes |