be found afloat in society, but in that deadness and want of spirit, which is sometimes witnessed among certain classes on the day of the celebration.

As to "the madness of the people," when powerfully roused, either by military, political or religious excitement, we have evidence enough of its effects to be on our guard against it. And it is curious to the philosopher, as well as to the unlettered man, to trace the wild mazes in which human nature has been involved, when led astray by imagination, under the guidance of folly, fear or superstition. At one time man is to be seen turning reptiles into gods, or gods into reptiles; at another, casting his offspring to the flames, or sacrificing decency, sobriety and manhood, on the altar of Bacchanalian fury. Here we behold him offering himself at the faggot, an atonement to divine displeasure-there stoning and razing to their foundations the temples of those deities who, he imagines, have neglected his prayers. In one country he is found driving virtue from the republic, by universal acclamation; in another, dragging the car of despotism, and planting it directly in the capitol. In this age, he is beheld receiving with open arms, an enthusiast as his prophet and his king: in that, regardless of virtues and of miracles, shouting "crucify-crucify;" and even in our day, when circumstances would seem to insure a more manly and becoming spirit, the heart sickens at the sight of those degrading and disgusting rites and practices, which, in many places, the Carnival is made to sanction.

But, although these things have been, and are so still, nevertheless, the world is getting pretty well through its days of childhood. There certainly was a time when wild fancy and imagination marched in the van of society, even in its better forms, and when severe reason and the more manly intellectual virtues were less in demand than at present; or, at least, when the exercise of them was left, almost exclusively, to those who had rendered themselves lords over the noble heritage of man.

Times and circumstances, however, have materially changed; and individuals at large have begun to think more for themselves, to reflect before they act, and to indulge in doubts, however authoritatively dogmas may be announced. The more dangerous and combustible materials of society have been pretty much burnt out. The consequence of all this is, that we live in an age, and more particularly, in a country, (for it is to this country that these remarks are intended specially to be applied,) which has with some accuracy, been denominated one of matter-of-fact. There can be no doubt, that, on the

whole, mankind are to be benefitted by this change; and that, indeed, this peculiar genius of the times, is the first fruit and offspring of an advancement towards a higher state of maturity. But, perhaps, it may still be apprehended, whether this over-nice matter-of-fact spirit may not be carried to an injudicious extreme; and whether, in the attempt to appear very wise and philosophical, we may not be sacrificing many of those delights and enjoyments, which were kindly intended to smooth the ruggedness of life; whether, in truth, with all our good sense and practical wisdom, we may not be led to conceive man too much a creature of business; and, forgetting the compound nature of his constitution, philosophize away half that makes him a happy one.

That, on the celebration of the anniversary of the declaration of our Independence, as on all other occasions, when men set themselves about their pleasures, as contra-distinguished from their business, excesses may be committed, and follies displayed by individuals; that they may occasionally overshoot the mark which good sense and strict propriety may point, is certainly not to be denied; but that, therefore, any justification or apology is to be found therein, for that overweening conceit of dignity, that affected elevation above vulgar excitement, that pretty show of fatigue at crowds and bustle, or that cold, calculating spirit of profit and loss, which would put down, or even tend to enfeeble an universal and hearty burst of national enthusiasm and joy on this day of pride, is by no means to be admitted.

All objections of this kind, when advanced against matters founded in sound principle, and supported by all those feelings in which the virtuous bosom must delight, although accompanied by incidental evils, should be met fairly, and at once, by that good sense and enlarged observation, that innate sense of propriety, which at once founds a firm and sufficient basis for our judgment in all the occupations and decisions of life, and spurns that minuteness of detail and calculation, which belongs only to the cold arithmetic of the miser or the ascetic. Every thing is subject to objection, and nothing without its evils. The most rational enjoyments of men must be forsaken, if weighed in such a balance; and we shall be convinced, upon reflection, that there is an extreme in this system as well as in the other. To avoid the dangers arising from heterogeneous collections of men, political and religious meetings of all kinds, nay, the very system of society itself must be abandoned; to escape the loss which may result from occasional cessation from labour, not only must all the agreeable and interesting

socialities of life, but even the very institution of the Sabbath be relinquished. And by tracing this notion in all its bearings, we shall find that whilst we are aiming to grasp too much, we are, in truth, in danger of losing what we have. Such general objections as are found sometimes started on this subject, are far too mean and insignificant to command much attention, and therefore are not worthy of being hunted down in detail. If the heart does not at first feel their feebleness, the head never can be convinced of it. We can trace the operation of the same principle in the proposal to reduce the salary of our Presidents to that of a half-pay drummer in the British army, and to make honour, and not a yearly stipend, the reward of our judges.

If the society in which we live, cannot bear up under the loss resulting from an occasional relaxation from the store or the workshop, it must, indeed, be reduced to a most pitiable condition; and if it cannot find in itself sufficient command of principle, information, good sense and virtue, far to outweigh the inducements to, or even the consequences of, the mere temporary extra excitement of a day, it is hardly worth while to waste much time in attempts to prop its decaying pillars. Without enthusiasm, nothing great was ever accomplished: and although, unless under proper guards and restrictions, it may be a dangerous power, yet the engine of state in this country is quite strong enough to bear a pretty high pressure. In this, as in many other cases of vital importance, we must trust to the good sense of the community, and look to the sterling mass of national virtue as the safety-valve of the state. If outrages against the laws are committed, let the law raise its own powerful arm in this country, thank God, it is strong enough for the putting down of any thing engaged against it. And if individuals here and there are to be found weak or wicked enough to be hurried into excesses, why let them pay the costs attendant on such actions, in the broken or the aching head, the empty purse, or the reflections and sensations of a day or two of sobriety. Besides such things on public occasions are more particularly noticed, only because they are somewhat more aggregately and openly exhibited. For our own part, notwithstanding all the cant and affected lamentations which we have been accustomed to hear on the riots and dissipations attending our national festival, we freely declare our conviction that very little, if any more is witnessed on that day, than by a slight investigation might be traced out every day, and more especially on some esteemed rather more holy. We can bear honourable testimony to the good order, good

humour and decorum, which characterize the celebration, and which, we think, equally creditable to our feelings and our laws. In fact, it may be doubted, whether, if examined with a liberal eye, any serious inconvenience whatever, could be fairly traced to this source. If these remarks are at all founded in justice, why should we hesitate to hail with joy the celebration of a festival, the origin of which we all admit to be equally happy and glorious. The whole thing at last resolves itself into the broad question, whether, for a few speculative, or even admitted evils, we are unwilling to relinquish the custom of our only national celebration.

It hardly can be denied that we have much reason to rejoice. The fourth of July, to the patriot, the philosopher and the philanthropist, comes clad every year with new charms. On the fourth day of this present month will have elapsed forty-eight years since America became a nation, and Americans freeforty-eight years, since republicanism burst upon the world, commanding in its simplicity and glorious in its strength-fortyeight years, since the foundations were laid of a free government, which combines, in its form and structure, every thing that can be gathered from the political experience of man-a government, which is, indeed, the rectified spirit of all past reflection and experiment-forty-eight years, since the moral, religious and political energies of man began to develope themselves, in a geometrical ratio, and to give to future generations the promise of a harvest, rich in all that is valuable to society, or dear to the heart. What may not be expected from the example which this great people set at that trying moment, when forgetting all private interests, and sacrificing all selfish considerations, they joined in that holy compact, which pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour," to the attainment of civil and religious freedom.

If not only the original chain of our union has been growing stronger and brighter, but new links and new rivets have been almost yearly added to its measure-if not only so, but if in less than half a century, the same spirit which animated our forefathers, has penetrated from one end to the other of the southern continent; if the example then given has served as a light and an encouragement to every part of Europe, as has been emphatically manifested in Spain; if it has gone farther, and rouzed and reanimated the long enslaved sons of those Grecian heroes, who were our bright exemplars, what may not be expected from our future course?-Surely we have reason to rejoice on the recurrence of the day that originally rose with so much splendour.

It is certainly to be hoped, that we shall hear no more about Vol. I. No. III.

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the loss, the folly, or the danger of celebrating the anniversary of our national birth. If we do not rejoice for ourselves, we may at least rejoice for our children and for mankind: and, if we look with apathy or indifference on this sublime occasion, have enemies enough in the world to turn it to their purposes, and to proclaim, that the pretended freemen of this hemisphere, but for their pride, would confess themselves deceived in their expectations from their principles.

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We are fully persuaded, after all, that the great mass of the people think with us on this question; and we do most sincerely cherish the hope, that every succeeding anniversary will be hailed with greater gratitude to Heaven, and more lively demonstrations of triumph. It is delightful to traverse, in imagination, the face of this vast continent, at this interesting time: to hear the shouts of freemen breaking from its boundless forest, rolling through its winding vales, and bursting from its lofty mountains; to see those plains which, not fifty years ago, witnessed those feats of valour and the outpouring of that blood, which were the price and the purchase of our privileges, now covered with peaceful cottages and sending out our yeomanry, animated with recollections of the past: to watch the thousand streamers waving in graceful pride from those mast-tops, which now cover those streams, rivers and bays, where once floated a royal and insulting navy: to listen to the roar of the cannon and the peal of the drums and the sound of the trumpets, which usher in the fourth of July in America. It is cheering to the heart, to hear the bells proclaiming the tidings from every steeple, and to witness the immense multitudes of light hearts and laughing countenances, which welcome its return. We wish to all our orators on the approaching anniversary, the applauses of their audience; to our soldiers, the rewarding smiles of the fair; to our worthy magistrates, rich turtles and fat surloins: and to all classes of our community a merry day. For our part, we shall fill a brimming bumper to the health and the happiness of the people of these United States, " by the grace of God, free and Independent."

REDWOOD.

SINCE writing our remarks on domestic literature, in the last number of this journal, two works have appeared, illustrating, each in a different manner, the capabilities of our own country for the purposes of the novelist. We mean "Hobomok,"