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perature at sunset 97°, lowest 41°, mean 56°-Greatest variation in twenty four hours 21°. The Barometrical range is from 29.55 to 30.38 inches.

The winds have been variable, and those

from the uorth and west were at times exceedingly unpleasant from the clouds of dust which they elevated and carried through the air.

During this month, vegetation has been rapidly declining. The foliage has been gradually assuming those rich and variega. ted colours which impart to our woods and forests such a magic splendour, and render the autumnal landscape so interesting to the painter. The trees are daily parting with their leaves, and the face of all the country is fast approaching to its wintery state.

That the human body, and the actions which constitute health and disease, are much influenced by the state of the atmos phere, is proved by almost daily observation, and is rendered conspicuous from the effects produced by the rotation of the seasons. The autumnal vicissitudes have already made a strong impression upon the character of diseases. The weather has been sensibly bracing to the constitution, and the population at large have experienced its salutary influence, manifested in the favourable state of the general health. Continued and remittent fevers, and more especially disorders of the prima vic, though they still continue to hold a prominent and distinguished rank, are obviously declining, and gradually giving place to diseases of more marked inflammatory character, the effect of external cold. Corizas, pains in the face and teeth, swellings of the neck and fauces, sore throats, coughs and hoarse ness, aftended sometimes with slight fever, have been frequent. A number have been affected with ophthalmias, and peripneumonies, both true and spurious; several have complained of rheumatic pains, and a few have been seized with pleurisies.

In the milder forms of Bronchial and Pulmonic disorder, resulting from the impressions of our mutable atmosphere, a proper degree of abstemiousness, cooling cathartics, moderately warm clothing, and the use of tepid, diluent drinks, by determining to the surface and restoring the functions of the skin, will often relieve the respiratory organs, and effect a removal of the complaint. But in severe cases of pulmonic disease, where the balance of the circulation becomes so far disordered as to produce a considerable degree of inflam

mation, marked by pain in the chest, cough, dyspnoea, or difficult and impeded respiration, attended by febrile excitement, the lungs must be speedily relieved by the most prompt and active measures. This can only be done by producing a rapid diminution of the circulating mass of fluids, by blood-letting, and by active purgations at the commencement. After the use of decisive evacuations, blisters are to be applied for the purpose of relieving the local uneasiness; and as in all inflammatory affections of the lungs, nature appears to attempt the cure by expectoration, this process must be aided by the use of antimonials at first, and by gradually increased expectorant medicines as the febrile stricture and excitement diminish. After the process of expectoration has actually commenced, evacuations produced either by bleed g or by the use of purgatives, may be pr uctive of serious mischief, and are therefore to be cautiously employed.

The New-York Bills of Mortality for October, give the following account of deaths: Abscess, 2; Apoplexy, 4; Burned or Scalded, 4; Casualty, 4; Cholera Morbus, 7; Consumption, 42; Convulsions, 11; Cramp in the Stomach, 1; Diarrhoea, 4; Dropsy, 6; Dropsy in the Head, 10; Dropsy in the Chest, 3; Drowned, 3; Dysentery, 33; Dyspepsia, 1; Fever, 7; Fever, Bilious, 2; Fever, Inflammatory, 2; Fever, Intermittent, 1; Fever, Typhous, 22; Flux, Infantile, 8; Gout, 4; Hæmorrhage, 4; Hæmoptysis, 2; Hives, 10; Hooping Cough, 16; Inflammation of the Bladder, 1; Inflammation of the Brain, 4; Inflammation of the Chest, 7; Inflammation of the Liver, 4; Inflammation of the Bowels, 3; Intemperance, 4; Locked Jaw, 1; Measles, 2; Mortification, 1; Old Age, 8; Palsy, 7; Quinsy, 1; Scrophula, 1; Sprue, 1; Still Born, 9; Sudden Death, 3; Suicide, 1; Syphilis, 1; Tabes Mesenterica, 10; Teething, 1; Unknown, 3; Worms, 4.-Total 294.

Of this number there died 65 of and under the age of 1 year; 34 between 1 and 2 years; 25 between 2 and 6; 12 between 5 and 10 12 between 10 and 20; 35 between 20 and 30; 33 between 30 and 40; 33 between 40 and 50; 16 between 50 and 60; 10 between 60 and 70; 14 between 70 and 80; 3 between 80 and 90; and 2 between 90 and 100 years.

JACOB DYCKMAN, M. D. New-York, October 31st, 1818.

THE

AMERICAN MONTHLY MAGAZINE

AND

CRITICAL REVIEW.

VOL. IV......No. III.

JANUARY, 1819.

ART. 1. The Backwoodsman. A Poem. By J. K. PAULDING. 12mo. pp. 198. Philadelphia. M. Thomas. 1818.

THAT

HAT, in the revolution of ages, the Muse of America will compete with her predecessors of Greece, Rome, and England, must be the conviction not less of reason than of patriotism. The progress of society in the western world is visibly preparing the way for a more sublime and perfect developement of mental power than has yet been beheld, and we may confidently anticipate the period, when the eyes of Europe will be turned with astonishment on the superior cultivation by her ancient colonies of the higher qualities of genius, as she now gazes in wonder on their advance in the useful arts, and, in one particular of unspeakable importance, begins to perceive their present superiority. The spirit and influence of her political institutions seem to hold out to America the promise of a literature richer and more abundant than that of any nation either of ancient or modern times. The fabric of her laws and government, beautiful as it is, will, no doubt, yet receive considerable improvement from the increasing intelligence of her citizens, and their experience of the advantages of innovation, a VOL. IV.-No. HI

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much-calumniated term, but one we do not hesitate to use, because in its true sense it applies to a feeling, the source and spring of all that exalts and ennobles the character of a nation. Among the many excellencies of the constitution, we would select, as the one conferring upon it its highest value, and most indicative of the wisdom of its framers, the provision made for its gradual and temperate amendment. The recognition of the principle on which this provision is founded, appears to us one of the firmest bulwarks of American liberty—the surest safeguard against the evils of anarchy on the one hand, and on the other, the more destructive effects of despotism. More than other branches of knowledge-mechanics, astronomy, mathematics, &c.— why the science of legislation and government should remain stationary, we profess our inability to discover. At present, the United States afford the single and admirable example of a people already powerful in numbers and wealth, flourishing, and in a manner unparalleled in the history of mankind, under a government more positively popular than that of any

of the ancient republics, adequate to every purpose of domestic improvement or foreign defence, of which the highest as well as the least consequential stations are open to every member of the community, administered-and, surely, this is not the least of its merits-at an expense to the state that clearly proves how slender is the cost of all the legitimate business of a nation, and whose proceedings are necessarily concordant with the opinions and feelings of the country. In America-and this can be predicated of no other part of the world-the law is sovereign, and, from the head of the republic to the most obscure and indigent individual, every citizen is bound to render to its dictates respect and implicit obedience. Yet does not this supremacy of the law affect in the remotest degree the indefeisible sovereignty of the PEO

PLE.

In truth, it is only as the recorded expression of their will, that it operates; the direction of that will it obeys with the undeviating fidelity of a river to its bed, and whenever the majority of the nation decides upon altering its course, it flows, per necessitatem, in a new channel.

The consciousness of their possession of this power to alter and meliorate the constitution, must, we humbly conceive, act upon the people as a perpetual stimulus to look into, and examine with deep attention and scrutinizing interest, the component parts of the constitution. It is a subject deserving, above any other, the study of each and all. More, much more than is generally supposed, of the prosperity and happiness of a people depends on the powers of its government, as well as the manner in which those powers are exercised; and the experience of history-which too frequently exhibits the degrading picture of the sacrifice of a nation's welfare to the passions or caprices of a few individuals warrants us in observing, that, from the moment the public functionaries are suffered to assume the power of acting independently of those to whom they owe their stations, the liberty (i. e. the sove

reignty) of the people sustains a proportionable diminution.

It is not our intention to enter at present into the discussion of this important and very interesting topic. To some of our readers it may appear that we have digressed from the subject in hand, and it may perhaps seem somewhat strange to commence a critique on a poem, with remarks upon political topics. A more attentive examination, however, will, we think, show that we have not erred so widely as might be imagined. Our object was to show, that, for a considerable period at least, much of the spare time of the people on this side of the Atlantic will be devoted to politics, and that the literary talents of the country will naturally follow the bent of the national taste, and devote themselves to subjects engrossing universal attention. The justness of our sentiments in this respect is not, certainly, contravened by facts. The literature of America is chiefly political, though a few poems may be mentioned, that deserve to be better known than they are at present. Among them we would particularly select Trumbull's “ M‹Fingal," and a portion of the works of the late R. T. Paine. Mr. Pierpont's “Airs of Palestine,” display great richness of fancy, and a melodious facility of versification, that frequently reminds us of Pope and Campbell. Still these are to be cited rather as exceptions to the general rule, honourable, indeed, to their authors, and the country in which they were produced, but nevertheless confirming, by the small proportion they bear to the body of her literature, the opinions we entertain concerning some of the causes of the slow advances of poetry in America. The mind of the nation is too busily engaged in other objects, objects most intimately connected with its highest interests, to feel any very urgent sympathy in the ef forts of mere imagination, and it seems probable, that a considerable period will elapse before the Muse of Columbia will meet with that warmth of encouragament indispensibly necessary to the production of strains that will place her upon the

same eminence with the Muse of Europe. At the present moment the national taste leans another way, and prose has the advantage of verse. An cloquent essay on some important legal or political topic, a well-written pamphlet on a mechanical subject, or an able disquisition on an agricultural or commercial question, would, we think, excite an interest very considerably beyond what a poem of equal merit would have a chance of creating. America, we take it, is a country rather of business and strenuous hardy exertion, than a land of elegance and imagination. Her sons are too seriously engaged in the stern and laborious cares of real life, to have leisure to wander through the bowers of fiction. They are a good deal like what, in the earlier period of the Republic, we can imagine the Romans would have been, had the Romans, instead of an agricultural and martial, been a commercial and peaceful people. Good sense and a certain clear-headedness are equally the characteristics of each;—a disinclination, not to say aversion, to works of mere taste and fancy-a steady and habitual attachment to the useful rather than the ornamental—a quick and accurate perception of the proper objects of public or individual policy, and an unrelaxing perseverance in their cultivation of them-these we conceive to be features belonging not more to the Roman than to the American character. Nor are these the only points in which the two nations may be compared together. Fortitude and magnanimity-the patient and unmurmuring endurance of unforeseen evils, and a liberality of soul that, satisfied with success, disdains to insult a vanquished foe-are not more the attributes of the Roman than the American people. Above all the nations of antiquity, the Romans were distinguished by their sacred and unswerving regard to the duties of religion and morality; and all the great men that adorn the early periods of their history, were as conspicuous for their piety and private virtue as for their public talents. In these respects, also, we think it cannot be disputed that the Americans

stand equally high. If the one had their Numa, Fabricius, and Cincinnatus, the other may be justly proud of their Washington, Hamilton, and Adams. The parallel, we conceive, might be carried a good deal farther; but it was not our intention to enter into a minute investigation of the character of either people, and we mentioned the Romans chiefly, to show that causes of pretty nearly the samne nature as prevented their cultivation of poetry, exist, and in all probability will for a long time exist, in America, and keep dormant, or direct through other channels those talents which, in different circumstances, might have shone with no inconsiderable lustre in the field of poetry.

Undismayed, however, by the comparative indifference of his countrymen to the efforts of their native muse, the distinguished author, whose last work now lies before us, has ventured upon the publication of a poem which, though unquestionably unequal in its composition, is calculated to make a livelier impression on the mind and feelings of the country than any, perhaps, that has yet issued from the American press; and the favourable reception it has already met with from the public might, on the first view, seem to contradict, in some measure at least, our assertions respecting the coldness with which that public has hitherto treated its indigenous poetry. On this point we shall presently have occasion to say a few words, but at the moment shall content ourselves with observing, that Mr. Paulding's case is a peculiar one, and attended with circumstances of a much more favourable description than could be reasonably expected by any general candidate for poetical fame.

This eminent individual has been long and deservedly regarded by his countrymen as one of the principal ornaments of American literature. As one of the authors of "Salmagundi," his name will long continue to hold a high place among those who have devoted their talents to satirical composition. The lively wit of that most amusing book, the facility, and, not infrequently, the elegance of the versa, uni

ted with the fine influence of moral and patriotic sentiment which breathes throughout its pages, were accepted, and even welcomed, as rich offerings on the shrine of the American muses. That work may justly be said to hold a medium rank between the productions (inimitable in their `way) of Butler and the effusions of Prior; and surely this is praise of no mean value. Mr. Paulding's next production was JOHN BULL AND BROTHER JONATHAN," a humorous volume, in which the progress of the colonies, from their first settlement to their establishment as independent and sovereign states, is related in a style of broad caricature, of which the works of Smollet present the first and finest examples. But the last, and, in our opinion, the best of Mr. Paulding's prose works, is the "LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH," (a critique on which will be found in this Magazine for January, 1818, p. 233.) In this interesting production, the various powers of the author are seen to the best advantage. Satire and pathos-worldly knowledge combined with generous sentiment-a spirit of pure and elevated patriotism, which, however, does not induce him to dissemble, nor prevent him from lashing, the faults of his countrymen-a fine and unaffected sensibility to the charms of external nature-and a flow of language vivacious, ardent, and occasionally almost poetical, render this, to us at least, by far the most attractive of Mr. Paulding's works. If in the poem now before us, there be found many passages of distinguished and superior merit, still we consider it our duty to say, that its beauties are neither so considerable nor continuous as to ensure it that high and lasting esteem we could wish to see awarded to every production of so eminent a name. As a poem made to sell, the author judged wisely, perhaps, in the choice of his subject. The cultivation and rapid improvement of the western territory, has of late excited considerable interest in all classes; and the adventures of a back-settler, and his rise from indigence to comparative wealth, could scarcely fail to create a lively feeling of curiosity

in a large portion of the reading public. The tide of emigration from the eastern to the western sections of the union, is flowing with a force and constancy not exceeded by that which is annually pouring into the States the superfluous population of Europe. In one respect, America is perhaps more completely in possession of the substantial advantages of literature than any country we could name. In other lands we may find brighter names in the field of learning and the Belles Lettres; the few are cultivated and polished, but the mass is gross and ignorant; the lights of intelligence burn within a narrow and restricted sphere, and though their radiance be powerful, their influence is feeble. In America, on the contrary, the stream of knowledge flows in channels broad, deep, and innumerable, a common and universal blessing; and the result is, a spirit of intelligence in the great body of her people, that is not to be found among any other nation of the globe. In America, the advantages of education are open to all, and by all are they partaken. But few are deeply learned, and ignorance is the lot of as few. Every citizen can read and write; and where this is the case, we need not lament that polite literature, or the abstrusenesses of metaphysics are regarded with comparative indifference and coldness. Thus it was a thing to be expected, that a poem like "THE BACKWOODSMAN," the scene of which is laid in regions to which so many thousands of an enterprising and intelligent population are directing their views, and in which the principal character is of the same description with themselves, coming too from an individual not more celebrated for the strength of his talents, than the ardour of his patriotism, should find a very considerable number of readers even in a country where poetry is the department of literature that will, in all probability, be the last cultivated. But while we would give all due praise to Mr. Paulding for the sagacity he has evinced in the scheme of his poem, we must, without reservation, enter our pro

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