They made confession of their open errors; Religion made them kings, to reign for ever! The author is a resolute advocate of total absti nence, and opponent of slavery. The picturesque incidents of the missionary career, the hazards of a sailor's life ashore as well as afloat, the joys and sorrows of the fireside, and the inspiriting themes of Christian faith, are also frequently and variously dwelt upon. The verses are uniformly smooth, musical, and in excellent taste. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.* "Takes care of the Children!"-there's many T is noble-sublimity's in it, When Charity maketh her proof, And "speech," "resolution," and "minute,” By gold, and a word, are at pleasure And vanquish for Jesus the world. Let princes and emperors lead ;— Be lifeguards of noblemen present, And prelates and baronets bleed; We ask not, we wish not to battle With them; but our disciplined band Marshal onwards, and where the shots rattle Behold us! the Infantry stand! In the plebeian suburbs of Glos'ter, The children that troubled the street;- Her office and honors, we see, Who, patiently, letter by letter, Here teaches the child at the knee. "Takes care of the Children!"-where growing In August are vintage and corn, Who gazes and thinks of the sowing Of sweet little April with scorn? "Small things" may be jeered by the scoffer, Yet drops that in buttercups sleep, 66 Make showers;-and what would he offer Takes care of the Children ?"— -nor wasted The culturer the product has tastel, "A young German philanthropist, in seeking to carry out a favorite plan of benevolence towards the rising race, applied to the American Sunday School Union for help, because it is The Society that takes care of the Children.'"-Twentythird Annual Report, But dearer are none to the Master In tears, and on Time's narrow brink, At last yield the harvest of grainIn a world where the brambles oft sting us, "T is well to choose pleasantest bowers;"Taking care of the Children" will bring us The nearest to Heaven and Flowers! JOHN K. MITCHELL, A PHYSICIAN of Philadelphia, and a contributor of professional literature to the American Medical and Physical Journal, is also the author of a volume, Indecision, a Tale of the Far West, and other Poems, published by Carey and Hart in 1839. Dr. Mitchell was born at Shepardstown, Virginia, in 1798. His family was from Scotland; and on the death of his father, he was sent to be educated in Ayr and at Edinburgh. Returning to America, he studied medicine with Dr. Chapman at Philadelphia. In 1841, he was chosen professor of the Practice of Medicine in the Philadelphia Jefferson Medical College. In addition to the writings alluded to, Dr. Mitchell published in 1821, a poem entitled St. Helena, by a Yankee. Indecision, his longest production, is a didactic poem, "intended," says his friend, the late Joseph C. Neal, in a biographical notice in Graham's Magazine,* "to convey a moral of the most useful character, by proving That Indecision marks its path with tears; That want of candor darkens future years; That perfect truth is virtue's safest friend, And that to shun the wrong is better than to mend. And the poet has carried out the idea in a story of romantic incident, somewhat unequal and hasty at times, in its construction, but, on the whole, marked with power, and calculated deeply to interest the reader." The following spirited lyric was written in 1820. THE BRILLIANT NOR' WEST. Let Araby boast of her soft spicy gale, trees With odors and music encumber the breeze; August, 1845, where will be found an enumeration of Dr. Mitchell's medical papers, and several Lectures before the Franklin Institute. I languish to catch but a breathing of thee, For ever, for ever, be thine, purest wind, THE NEW AND THE OLD SONG. A new song should be sweetly sung, A new song should be sweetly sung, As comes upon the rudest tongue, A new song should be sweetly surg, It brings not back the strains that rung When the boy to his mother clung, On tented fields 'tis welcome still; In forest wild, on rocky hill, And away on the prairie lea:But dearer far the old song, When friends we love are nigh, And well known voices, clear and strong, Unite in the chorus cry Of the old song, the old sorg, The song of the days of glee, When the boy to his mother clung, Or danced on his father's knee! Oh, the old song-the old song! The song of the days of glee, The new song may be better sung, But the good old song for me! RICHARD PENN SMITH Was born in Philadelphia, and was educated as a lawyer. His father, William Moore Smith, who transmitted a taste for literature to his son, is spoken of as a poetical writer of reputation. The first appearance of Richard Penn Smith as an author was in the contribution of a series of Essays entitled "The Plagiary" to the Union. He was for five years, from 1822, the proprietor and editor of the Aurora, in which he succeeded Duane. He then returned to his profession of the law, still pursuing his literary tastes. In 1831 he published a novel of the American Revolution, The Forsaken. He is also the author of two volumes of short stories, The Actress of Paduc and other Tales. He was a frequent wri ter of poetical pieces for the newspapers; but chiefly known as a ready writer of dramatic pieces for the stage. His tragedy of Caius Marius, written for Edwin Forrest, was brought out by the latter on the stage. He wrote numerous other successful plays, some of the titles of which are, Quite Correct, The Eighth of January, The Sen tinels, William Penn, the Water Witch, Is she a Brigand? &c. Rees, in his Dramatic Authors, enumerates these, and tells an anecdote illustrating his equanimity while turning off these hasty productions for ready money. Leaving the theatre one night at the close of the performance of a piece of his composing, he met an old schoolfellow who, ignorant of his friend's share in it, saluted him. Well, this is really the most insufferable trash that I have witnessed for some time." "True," replied Smith, "but as they give me a benefit to-morrow night as the author, I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you here again." He died at his residence on the Schuylkill, August 12, 1854. He had ceased to write for some years before his death, having suffered from a dropsical affection.* MRS. LOUISA J. HALL. LOUISA JANE, the daughter of Dr. John Park, of Newburyport, was born in that place, February 7, 1802. Her father, in 1811, opened a school for young ladies in Boston, at which the daughter received a thorough education. She commenced writing at an early age, and a few of her poems appeared anonymously in the newspapers when she was about twenty. In 1825, the first half of her dramatic poem of Miriam was read at a literary party in Boston; the author, unknown as such to the company, was present, and so much encouraged by the commendations the work received, that she completed it soon after. It was not published until 1837. In 1831, she removed with her father to Worcester, where she was afflicted for four or five years with almost total blindness. Her deprivation was partially relieved by her father's kindness, who read to her for hours daily from his well stocked library, and assisted her in the preparation of two prose compositions, which she afterwards published, Joanna of Naples, a tale, and a life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, the learned friend of Dr. Johnson. In 1840, Miss Park was married to the Rev. Edward B. Hall, a Unitarian clergyman of Providence, Rhode Island. The scene of Miriam is laid in Rome, in the early ages of the Christian church. The characters of the piece are few, and the action confined entirely to the antagonism between the dominant idolatry and the yet persecuted Faith. Her Miriam, a young Christian maiden, is summoned by her father and brother to attend the burial rites of one of their persecuted sect. refusal excites their surprise, but they depart on their errand. Paulus, the son of Piso, “a noble Roman, a persecutor of the Christians," enters. Unable to change his faith, she has remained behind for a farewell interview. While they are together, her brother Euphas returns, reproaches her for what Rees's Dramatic Authors of America he deems her immorality, and brings intelligence that the assembly had been surprised, and her father, with others, led to prison to be condemnned to death. Euphas summons other Christians, who surround Paulus; and departs to propose to Piso, who is devotedly attached to his only son, an exchange of prisoners. The next scene introduces the merciless Roman ruler. Euphas is in despair, when Miriam enters. Her resemblance to her deceased mother powerfully affects Piso, who, years ago, a soldier in Syria, had wooed the latter when a maiden, and now discovers the rival who became her husband within his power. Finding he can save his son's life only by the release of all the captives, he promises that they shall return at the appointed time, the break of the following day. To this, and its first locality, the scene changes. The brother and sister return with the promise, and are soon followed by the mockery of its fulfilment. The Christian captives are introduced, bearing with them the aged Thraseno, stretched dead upon a bier, having been strangled in prison by order of his old rival. Miriam sinks under this accumulated misery. She rallies a moment as her lover proclaims that henceforth his part and lot are with those about him, and craves, as a sincere convert, the rite of baptism; but while the funeral dirge rises around the body of her father, her gentle spirit passes from earth. We quote the concluding scene of the drama :— Christians enter, and the group opening, displays the body of Thraseno on a bier. Paulus. (Springing forward.) Oh foul and bloody That knows too well whose treachery hath done this! I send you him I promised. Have ye kept And on the purple lip convulsion still Oh, fearful was the strife from which arose Not yet! oh! not quite yet! New converts to your peaceful faith. Good brethren, Bear him forth with you in your pilgrimage, And when his soul in earnest hath drunk in My spirit struggles 'neath the dust that lies Paulus. Hath reached thy soul, I may indeed rejoice! Euphas. Sister! with such a calm and sunny Stand'st thou beside our murdered father's bier? ther's hand' Ye fair and young apostles! go ye forth- Miriam. Angels are gathering in the eastern sky-Waiting till ye too lay your fetters down, The wind is playing 'mid their glittering plumes- Spurn me not from the gate that opes for thee! That must have rung on earth! And come to your reward!-Go fearless forth; now, The silver beard heaves not upon thy breast, My friends, I would not have the sight of those I love DIRGE, Shed not the wild and hopeless tear Aching brow and throbbing breast Crowns our blessed martyr's brow! MISS MCINTOSH, the author of a series of fictions, characterized by their truthfulness and happy style, is the descendant of a Scottish family, which came among the first settlers to Georgia. Her ancestors in Scotland were distinguished by the handling of the sword rather than the pen, though an uncle of her grandfather, BrigadierGeneral William McIntosh, who led the Highland troops in the rising of 1715, during a fifteen years' imprisonment in the Castle of Edinburgh, where he died, wrote a treatise on "Inclosing, Fallowing, and Planting in Scotland." With fortunes greatly diminished by the adherence of his family to the Stuarts, her great-grandfather, Capt. John More McIntosh, with one hundred adherents, sailed from Inverness, in 1735, for the colony of Georgia, and landing on the banks of the Alatamaha, named the place at which they settled New Inverness, now Darien, in the county which still retains the name of McIntosh. This John More McIntosh was the same who originated and was the first signer of the protest made by the colonists to the Board of Trustees in England, against the introduction of African slaves into Georgia. Of his sons and grandsons, seven bore comissions in the American Army of the Revolution. Of these, Major Lachlan McIntosh was the father of our author. He combined the dissimilar professions of the law and of arms. His standing as a lawyer was high in his native state, and after the war of the Revolution, political honors were often thrust upon him, and his pen was often employed in defence of the men-rres of his party. He was admired for his social qualities, and his warm heart and conversational talents are still remembered. He was married to an accomplished lady, wno united great energy of character to purely feminine traits. Major McIntosh resided after the Revolution in the village of Sunbury, forty miles south of Savannah, on the seacoast of Georgia, where our author was born. In a reminiscence of this spot she thus records her impressions of its scenery. "Sunbury was beautifully situated about five miles, from the ocean, on a bold frith or arm of the sea, stretching up between St. Catherine's Island on the one side and the main land on the other, forming, appa rently, the horns of a crescent, at the base of which the town stood. It was a beautiful spot, carpeted with the short-leaved Bermuda grass, and shaded with oak, cedar, locust, and a flowering tree, the Pride of India. It was then the summer resort of all the neighboring gentry, who went thither for the sea air. Within the last twenty years it has lost its character for health, and is now a desolate ruin; yet the hearts of those who grew up in its shades still cling to the memory of its loveliness; a recollection which M Intosh Mr. J. Mr Ser exists as a bond of union between them, which no distance can wholly sever. Its sod, still green and beautiful as ever, is occasionally visited by a solitary pilgrim, who goes thither with something of the tender reverence with which he would visit the grave of a beloved friend." She In Sunbury, at an academy, which dispensed its favors to pupils of both sexes, Miss McIntosh received all of her education for which she was indebted to schools;* and there the first twenty years of her life were spent. After that time her home having been broken up by the death of her mother, she passed much of her time with a married sister, who resided in New York, and afterwards with her brother, Capt. James M. McIntosh of the U. S. navy, whose family had also removed to that city. In 1835, Miss McIntosh was induced to sell her property in Georgia, and invest the proceeds in New York. The investment proving injudicious, she was dependent on her friends or her pen. characteristically chose the independence and intellectual development of the latter. Her first thought was to translate from the French. A friend advised her to attempt a juvenile series of publications, which should take the place in moral science which the popular " Peter Parley" books had taken in matters of fact, and suggested "Aunt Kitty" as a nom de plume. The story of Blind Alice was accordingly written in 1838, but did not find a publisher till 1841. Its success led to a second, Jessie Grahame, which was followed in quick succession by Florence Arnott, Grace and Clara, and Ellen Leslie. Each of these little works was designed for the inculcation and A few notes before us, from the pen of Miss McIntosh, contain a souvenir to the memory of this head master of Sunbury. "He was an Irish Gentleman-an epithet which he marked as quite distinct from that of a Gentleman from Ireland. He was a graduate of the University of Antrim ;-3 Presbyterian divine, yet not in early life after a very strict model. He would indeed, then, have answered Addison's demands well, being quite willing to avail himself of the eloquence of the classics of the pulpit, while he could take a hand readily, either in backgammon-Sir Roger de Coverley's special requisition-or in whist. In his latter years, however, for he has passed away from earth, he became an earnest and sincere Christian minister, and might have said to many of his order, I was in labors more abundant.' As a teacher he was unsurpassed. Taught in the niceties of his own language and of the dead languages, as few American scholars of that day were, he seemed especially gifted for the communication of knowledge to others. On his first arrival in this country he had resided in Alexandria, and had taught in the fami'y of General Washington, as he was proud of remembering. When he came to Georgia he married-there he continued to live, and there he died at a very advanced age, nearly, if not quite, a hundred. Even to the last year of his life he would have detected an imperfect concord or false prosody. When he was a teacher, the barbarous age of the rod and the ferule still continued, and the boys of his school sometimes complained that they were made to expiate by their application, not their own faults only, but also those of their fair companions, who were of course exempted from such punishments. To those who showed any interest in study, he was kind and indulgent. To myself he scarcely offered any constraint, permitting me often to choose my studies and prescribe my own lessons. The natural dislike of a vivacious girl to plod ever and ever in one beaten track, while boys, who were not always brighter than herself, were leaving her to penetrate into the higher mysteries of science, he stimulated rather than repressed, producing thus an emulation, which gave a healthy impulse to both parties. I remember often to have heard Dr. McWhir-for this was the name of the master-say, that this rivalry had done more for his school than a dozen rods, and I am quite sure that with it there mingled no bitterness, for some of those lads have been among the best friends of my life. The peculiar training of such a school must of course have exercised no small influence on the mental characteristics. It perhaps enabled me to exercise more readily the self-reliance necessary when thrown on my own resources,-yet it never inclined me for a moment to the vagaries of those who stand forth as the champions of women's rights. He who best understood the nature He had formed, assigned to woman a position of subjection and dependence, and I consider the noblest right to be, the right intelligently to obey His laws. In that obedience is found, doubtless, the highest honor of man or woman.” VOL. II.-25 illustration of some moral sentiment. In Blind Alice it was the happiness springing from the exercise of benevolence; in Jessie Grahame, the love of truth; in Florence Arnott, the distinction between true generosity and its counterfeit; in Grace and Clara, the value of the homely quality of justice; and in Ellen Leslie, the influence of temper on domestic happiness. In 1844, Conquest and Self-Conquest, and Woman an Enigma, were published by the Harpers. In 1845, the same publishers brought out Praise and Principle, and a child's tale called The Cousins. Her next work, To Seem and to Be, was published in 1846 by the Appletons, who, in 1847, republished. Aunt Kitty's Tales, collected from the previous editions into a single volume. In 1848, the same house published Charms and Counter Charms, and the next year, Donaldson Manor, a collection of articles written at various times for magazines, and strung together by a slight thread. In 1850, was brought out Woman in America, the only purely didactic work the author has published. In 1853, appeared The Lofty and the Lowly, a picture of the life of the slave and the master, in the southern portion of the United States. In England, Miss McIntosh's books have enjoyed a good reputation, with a large popular sale. They were first introduced by the eminent tragedian, Mr. Macready, who, having obtained Aunt Kitty's Tales in this country to take home to his children, read them himself on the voyage, as he afterwards wrote to a friend in this city, with such pleasure, that soon after his arrival in London he placed them in the hands of a publisher, who reproduced them there. The author's other books have been published in England as they made their appearance in America, and in the competition for uncopyrighted foreign literature, by more than one London publisher; though with the liberty of occasionally changing the name. THE BROTHERS; OR, IN THE FASHION AND ABOVE THE "Some men are born to greatness-some achieve greatness-and some have greatness thrust upon them." Henry Manning belonged to the second of these three great classes. The son of a mercantile adventurer, who won and lost a fortune by specula tion, he found himself at sixteen years of age called on to choose between the life of a Western farmer, with its vigorous action, stirring incident, and rough usage-and the life of a clerk in one of the most noted establishments in Broadway, the great source and centre of fashion in New York. Mr. Morgan, the brother of Mrs. Manning, who had been recalled from the distant West by the death of her husband, and the embarrassments into which that event had plunged her, had obtained the offer of the latter situation for one of his two nephews, and would take the other with him to his prairie-home. "I do not ask you to go with me, Matilda," he said to his sister, "because our life is yet too wild and rough to suit a delicate woman, reared, as you have been, in the midst of luxurious refinements. The difficulties and privations of life in the West fall most heavily upon woman, while she has little of that sustaining power which man's more adventurous spirit finds in overcoming difficulty and coping with danger. But let me have one of your From the Evenings at Donaldson Manor. |