ESSAYS, DESCRIPTive, and Moral, ON SCENES IN ITALY, SWITZERLAND,

AND FRANCE. By an American.

FANNY. A Poem.

JOURNAL OF A TOUR IN ITALY, IN 1821. By an American.

INDEPENDENT STATESMAN.

LOUNGER.

MEMORIAL.

NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

TRENTON EMPORIUM.

UNITED STATES LITERARY GAZETTE.

UNITED STATES REVIEW.

CLASS BOOK

OF

AMERICAN LITERATURE.

LESSON I.

Dialogue on Reading History.-EVENINGS IN N. ENGLAND,

Lucy. Aunt, I am tired to death of reading History. I have been two or three months studying Rollin;—but now I have come to live with you, I trust you will suffer me to employ myself about something more amusing.

Aunt. Why, my dear Lucy, you have now almost ceased to be a child, and I trust you are aware of how much importance a knowledge of historical events will prove, when you come forward in society. It is one of those things, which are so common that nobody can be tempted to be proud of them, and yet so necessary, that one ought certainly to blush for any deficiency.

Lucy. So my mother always told me; but I must acknowledge I am weary of such kind of reading. All I can remember is a jumble of battles and revolutions,—of kings murdered and princes poisoned. There are ever-so-many Dukes of Buckingham, and how can I possibly recollect to distinguish between them?

Aunt. All this confusion originates in a want of judgment in your course of study. You should read, in course, those books which nearly relate to the same period. If you wish to attain a knowledge of the sixteenth century, for instance, there are Charles V. Leo X. and the Life of Luther, which are very proper to be read together; and perhaps a few years hence, you might, with advantage, add Villiers on the Reformation. For the present winter, however, I will tell you of a plan, which will make History delightful as well as instructive. Lucy. Pray what is it?

Aunt. After you have read the reign of any particular king, I will read some novel or play immediately connected with it. By this means, you will no longer feel as if you had only heard of the characters, but as if you had actually seen and talked with them.

Lucy. But, Aunt, I have heard people say, it was wicked to read novels and plays.

Aunt. It is, no doubt, wrong to read such books very frequently, and very unprofitable to read them at all, without much discrimination; but every thing is valuable according to its use; and when the lighter kinds of reading serve to impress something more valuable upon our minds, they answer an exceedingly good purpose.

Lucy. It seems to me, there are not many novels of this description.

Aunt. You probably have seen a multitude of foolish romantic, worthless stories; and I am heartily glad that you do not like them. But if you will read only such ones as are pointed out by judicious friends, and, even then, read them sparingly, you might find some of real advantage to you. With regard to the plan I proposed, I cannot furnish you with either a novel or a play, for every reign in the English history; but I can for very many. Shakspeare provides a large fund for us on this occasion; and, luckily for our purpose, there is a Family Shakspeare published, in which most of the uninteresting and useless parts are omitted. The evenings are now perceptibly lengthening, and if you will follow my plan, I think you will acknowledge that they have passed away pleasantly, as well as profitably.

Lucy. Do, dear aunt, let us hear the whole of your plan; and what books you think you shall read.

Aunt. You shall read Hume's History aloud,-and whenever I think of any thing connected with the subject, we will obtain it at the library, and spend a few evenings in becoming acquainted with the characters, to whom Mr. Hume has slightly introduced us. After we have finished the reigns of Richard I. and his successor, we will read Ivanhoe and Shakspeare's King John. Shakspeare will likewise serve to fix the events connected with Henry IV. V. VI. and VIII. and likewise of the Second and Third Richard. Kenilworth and Miss Aikin's Court of Queen Elizabeth will give you a correct idea of that queen, and the persons, who were most conspicuous during her reign. The Fortunes of Nigel, and Miss Aikin's Court of King James, faithfully portray the

character of her successor; and Peveril of the Peak makes you well acquainted with Charles II. and his gay favourite, the Duke of Buckingham.

Lucy. Why indeed, Aunt, I did not think there had been so many as you have mentioned; but are there none to assist other countries, besides that of England?

Aunt. There probably are, though I know of but few. When we read Robertson's Scotland, The Abbot will increase the interest, which he excites in the story of their last unfortunate queen, Mary Stuart. In order to remember James III. and his quarrel with the famous house of Douglas, we may possibly turn aside to read the Lady of the Lake; and perhaps I may indulge you with Marmion, that you may better recollect Mary's grandfather, James IV. who fell at the battle of Flodden Field.

Lucy. And are there none connected with the French? Aunt. Undoubtedly. However, I know of but three; and those are, Quentin Durward, Jane of France, and Anne of Bretagne. They all refer to very nearly the same period.

Lucy. How delightful it will be to read all these things. Do let us begin Hume tonight.

Aunt. Tomorrow we will commence. But there is another part to my project. You must write down all that you remember of any reign, and the thoughts, which the subject naturally suggests. This must be done as if you were talking to a companion, not as if you were writing a book. The more you improve in this task, the more willing I shall be to devote an evening to the recreations I have mentioned; because I shall be convinced, that you do not hurry through your history for the sake of reading novels, plays, and poems, but that you love novels, &c. on account of the useful information they afford, as well as for their interesting stories and poetic language. After all, you must remember that there are many things necessary for you to learn, which cannot be obtained except by hard study. It is, no doubt, pleasant to find instruction in the train of amusement; but she is not always there-and she is so valuable, that we must be willing to follow her through long and tedious roads, now and then turning aside to rest on a little spot covered with grass and wild flowers.

LESSON II.

The first Settlement of Virginia, 1607.-J. Davis.

THE merchants of London having obtained a patent from James I. to encourage discoveries in Virginia, they fitted out three vessels, and appointed John Smith to command the expedition; a man who had distinguished himself from his earliest youth in the profession of arms; for he had not only been in several naval engagements, but had headed a forlorn hope, in an attack upon Olimpach, and slain three Turks, in single combat, at the siege of Regal.

The little squadron, placed under the command of this distinguished captain, was composed of one vessel of a hundred tons, another of forty, and one of twenty; and it was in the midst of winter, when, clearing the English channel, they committed themselves to the mercy of the Atlantic ocean.

On the twenty-sixth of April, 1607, the little squadron, under the direction of Captain Smith, came within sight of the American coast; and it had, by accident, got into the mouth of that bay, which is now so well known by the name of Chesapeake.

This bay is the largest in the world. The distance between its capes is about twelve miles, but it widens, when entered, till it becomes thirty miles in breadth; when it diminishes again to its head, and is from eighteen to seven miles broad. It is five miles broad at its extremity, where the Elk and Susquehannah fall into it; and here its length from the sea is two hundred and seventy miles, through the whole of which extent the tide ebbs and flows.

This mighty bay receives the streams of six large rivers from the west, all of which are navigable, and have their source in the same mountains.

Of these the southernmost is James river, called Powhatan by the natives; the next York river, named by the Indians Pamunkey; the third Rappahannock, which preserves its original title; the fourth the Potomac, distinguished by its irruption through the Blue Ridge; the fifth the Patuxent, remarkable for its red cliffs; the sixth the Petapsco, called by its discoverer the Bolus; and the seventh the Susquehannah, the northernmost of all, and the most serpentine in its

course.

Of these noble rivers, several flow through countries of vast extent, receiving in their course a variety of tributary streams,