my letter soon, and I have got plenty of money to pay the postman. And my ma pays me a penny a day for digging in the garden, and I shall work very hard and save all my money to buy books and a poney with, and I hope you will let it stand in the other stall in your stable. Our next specimen shall be one which is something different from the foregoing, in style at least. If it did not bear the date of" New York," we should say that it was evidently the effusion of some Bombastes Furioso of a provincial assize town in England, in which a "celebrated Irish barrister" had lately made some brilliant and successful appeal to "the acknowledged good sense and discrimination of an English jury." The subject of the letter is to seek. It might as well have been written in cypher, for any thing that can be made out as to what it is about. But that need not trouble the reader any more than it did the writer. Upon the whole, it may be offered as an instructive example of what has been called "prose on horseback." The steed, however, has evidently never been broke in, and is, moreover, a little lame into the bargain; but he goes at a great rate nevertheless. New York, Feb. 11, 1805. Messrs. T- & J———. Gentlemen,-Since my first letter addressed to you, our mutual friend Mr. O has been made acquainted with its contents, and in a jocose humour approved of the mode to facilitate the business in question, to gratify public expectation. To be candid, his other comments had a powerful effect, which induced me to write you these lines on account of my not receiving an answer to iny first letter. Gentlemen, if the fluency of thought should precipitate me into an error, be candid, that I may meliorate my language suiting your minds, to prevent a misunderstanding taking place. There's no doubt but you will agree with me that good humour properly. timed, however Planetical, ought to be passed over as a meteor. He that clumsily vents his nonsense may with propriety be compared to a bad amputating instrument, that tortures the patient into the likeness of one of Labrune's Passions. This is not the case with O- and P--. O, no! a cut from them is as keen as the instrument in the hands of a skilful surgeon; the wound heals, and the patient with good humour bends to superior talents. Gentlemen, whatever may be your opinion, or the wrong construction of others acquainted with the purport of my letter addressed to you on the eighth instant, is out of my power to say. This I know, that it was far distant from my thoughts to give offence, nor can I conceive any good purpose it would have answered. It is much to be lamented that a depravity of manners is too often prevailing, and may be compared to the raising of a storm. Alas! before the mind abates, much mischief may be done. The oak, in the vigour of its sending forth its branches, after its fall decays for want of nourishment. Figuratively writing, the similarity holds good between the author and players: the one as the body politick, and the other as its branches, whose foliage delight the eye by a display of beauty proceeding from its nourished foundation. Happy are they that act consistent with good moral instruction, by reflecting on the bad consequence attending the injury a well-disposed mind may feel, at seeing the mirror he holds up to nature rudely spoiled by the canker roach, or destroyed by the very men he wished to protect. The splenetic or malicious man may with brine render the Botanick labour of no effect, till a pure stream eradicate the poison, and disgrace the malcontent. Such are, and it is to be hoped ever will be the disappointment of 2 A VOL. XI. NO. XLVI. those that are evil-minded towards civil society. Gentlemen, do they not merit to be tossed by a bull, or to be considered as fuel for the regions below? To conclude, May authors and managers equal interests sway, When honored by principle, that governs their day; Melpomene-Thalia-with their expressive face, Will then adorn with dignity each play they grace. That this may be the case with those that are my friends, is the sincere wish of Yours at command, Messrs. T & J, Esqrs. J- - M Let us now, for a while, make brevity the inducement to our choice; for if the foregoing have a fault, it is that they are somewhat of the longest. The following is quite inimitable in its way. To Honourable Sir,-1 beg leave to inform you personally and I am in hoaps you will excuse the frailties of youth honoured Sir I am afflicted with that misconduct of geting a wife since I entered your sarvice-Sir if in case you do not take me into your sarvice again, if you would want a porter in town would be very happy to become your slave-Sir I hope you will forgive me, as i choose to remain Your humble sarvint, ANDREW G——. We are somewhat diffident about meddling in matters of conscience, and shall therefore let the following specimen speak for itself; merely adding that nothing was ever more characteristic in its way. My very dear friend, I simpothis with you under this very sollom providens, the deth of your sarvant-may our ail wis covenet god by his blessed spirit santefey it to every one of your and my family-may our gratious Lord fill our souls with the oyell of his gras, that we may alwayes be redey-We mist you last night-but the Lord wos with us-may he espeselly be with you and der Mrs. your der child and fambley under this visettation prayes your aff nat brother in a der redemer. J0. Doctor T of No-, Lams Condict Plase tould me yesterday he was goin to part with a good yong woman his hous maid-if you thougt proper to inquier after her you are welcom to mack yous of my name. 6 Jany. 1804. The following, though in an equally serious strain, is somewhat different from the above. Perhaps there was no cant in the other: certainly there is none in this. There is, in fact (considering the evident circumstances under which it is written) something touching in its entire simplicity. TO CHARLES MATHEWS, Esq. Dear Sir, I hope you will pardon the liberty I take in writing to you. But the fact is this-I knew your father well, and yourself some years ago heard me preach at the Adelphi Chapel, London. I am an Englishman, and am at present supplying a congregation at Leith-most of them very poor people. We are in want of bible for our pulpit, and if you would have the goodness to present us with one I should esteem it a singular favor, and . as long as I live will I bear you in my remembrance as a gentleman and a humane character, and I am sure my poor friends would esteem it a mark of the greatest kindness. I remain, Dear Sir, your very humble and obedient servant, T W We would fain, for the credit of both parties, give the rejoinder which followed the reply to this letter; since by that might be gathered the kind of reply which was made. But this may not be. We may be permitted to add our suspicion, however, that such letters and replies as these pass oftener between the persons nicknamed parsons and players, than those who bestow the above titles upon them would have us believe. There are few begging letters couched in such terms as the following. We have been half afraid to transcribe the above letter, and the two which follow (considering to whom they are addressed) without especial leave-which we should not get. But our excuse, to the only party who would object, is, that they have other merits even greater than that of illustrating the private character of him to whom they are addressed. We cannot help regarding the following as interesting in many points of view-but chiefly for its total want of cant and humbug--which letters written with the object of this are seldom free from ; -their absence in this case speaks no less for the addresser than the person addressed. -). London, Feb. 5, 1815. Friend Mathews,-As a man of the world I have not the least doubt but that you will pardon this intrusion. Fortune has dealt very differently by us. To me she has given a wife and large family-to you a wife and (*On all your efforts she has very kindly smiled-on all mine she has very unkindly frowned. You are now blessed with plenty-I have scarce the means of procuring a dinner. Your merit renders you deserving of all you have—my follies also render me deserving of all I have. You are in stature as near as ĺ guess about five feet ten inches-and that is about my height. Your means enable you to dress fashionably-I have barely the means to dress at all. Now then to the point: if you, sir, have any superfluous articles of dress by you-particularly a shirt-(for I have not one-which is the naked truth) I will thank you for them, and will for the sake of the giver make much of them. And I shall be also thankful if amongst your numerous friends (who so frequently laugh at you on the stage) you would make a party to laugh at me off the stage. Your friendly compliance with my wishes will, instead of laughing, make me cry with joy. I am, friend Mathews, At Finch's O. P. and P.S. Your greatly obliged and sincere Here is another, the language of which would render it curious and interesting, if nothing else did. 16 July, 1812. Sir and Brother, Mr. -'s compliments to Mr. Mathiws. I ask your pardon if another time I come to give you troble-but noing that you have a generous hart, I pray you, sir, to excuse me. I have been a week very bad -for to mintane me I have pledg all my cloths I had. You ma coll me one empertenent because I come another time to disturb you, but not haven any person in London more sure than your good person, so I toke the liberty * illegible in the original. to wright to you. i pray you for the last time that I come to disturb you to day-i am without a farthing-I recommend myself to you as a good brother mason. What you favored me before, and what I hope to day, will promise you upon a good free-mason when i get engagement I will return to you. i hope that you will do me this last favour. I shall be very much oblich to you for what great favours you have done for me. I am Your ombl and obdent Servant and brother, The reader may perhaps like another short specimen of French English, or English French-whichever it be; and the rather as it proceeds from a person not a little distinguished in his way, whose name, however, it is not consistent with our plan to affix. Mon cher, bon, brave, et excellent Mr. Liston, J'ai promis à un de mes plus cher amis de le conduire à votre theatre demain mardi-it would be beastly wrong de ne pas tenir parole.— You dearest Liston, pouvez seul me tirer d'embarras, & je suis so convinced de vos bontés toward me, que j'ai presque compté upon you, et eu consequence I will take the liberty of calling on you indubitablement to-morrow entre deux et trois. I would be beastly disappointed si je *trouvois visage Yours, de bois. V As we have inadvertently got among these foreign specimens of the epistolary style, perhaps we cannot do better than present the reader with one or two more, which shall conclude our repast for this month. They shall be love-letters, too; a class of composition in which we English do not excel. That the first of the following, however, is a love-letter, we judge merely from the fact of its being addressed to a lady of great personal attractions, and from our happening to know that the writer of it never came within eyeshot of such a person without being in love with her. We would fain be able to double the value of this epistle, by affixing to it the name borne by the original. But we must once more repeat our determination that these letters shall owe their attractions to their innate merits alone. We e may be allowed to add, however, that this universal "Squire of Dames" was an octogenarian at the period of inditing the following; and that, moreover, he has been permitted to kiss, with impunity, the hands of half the princesses of Europe, and is, from his present youthful appearance and undiminished attractions of manner, not unlikely to do the same by the other half before he dies: in which case we may expect him to write an additional volume to that already before the world, detailing the singular history of his life and adventures. Before transcribing this effusion, there is one passage of it which we cannot help pointing out to the reader's particular attention. It is that, about the middle of the letter, in which he revels in metaphors, hyperboles, similes, and the unlike. The crowd of ideas that meet together and jostle each other in this passage, added to the mistiness which enwraps the whole from all mortal understanding, render it little less than a finished specimen of the sublime! Madame.-I beg of you Madame will accept my sincere thank for your kind and charming letter of the 28 of last month, which I had the honor to * Idiom. receeve. Allow me to express the pleasure and happiness I felt on hearing from you, as I had become extremely anxious to know how you are. I trust you are and will continue well for the sake of your friends, in the number of whom I beg I may be allowed to rank myself. I hope, Madam, that you will take all possible car of your health, and also that Mr. M is well, to hom I beg my best compliments. I am very glad to hear of his safe return to home from America, at your enchanting and beautiful cottage, which I shall for ever admire. I think that my dear friend Mr. C― M- (a few lines to whom I shall add to this letter) has done exceedingly well in travelling to Italy, a country which he will find very favorable to improvem'. in that branch of his study. If, however, I may be permitted to express my sentiments, I am rather hurt at the idea that you, Madam, are left by them. But thos dismal and gloomy events which often we met with, as frozen mist aspect of a deep winter-but most be trust that nature of all things, and as well knowing nature attracte similar nature meet soon together. Therfore, as Sun pip through the dark cloudy sky, disperce the aspect of the winter, melting frosty snow, how joy season when Spring shall put forth her blossams, and summer offer ripened grapess in their return tasted together. How happy mortals in the cottage, to find abounding happiness to their wish, and by their prisence, Madam, will doubly feel the pleasure of being together, and you be amply repaid for all the uneasiness Madam have suffered in their absence, and be restored to that full enjoyment of pleasure and happiness which Madam so well deserve. As for my shoes,* 'Dr. H— wished himselfe to present (them) to the King, and I do not know myselfe what he has done. But when I come to London, (as I am anxious to be ther, pay my respect to you Madam) then I think we will know what he done. I remain, Madame, With profound respect, Your most humble most obedient servant, The reader will, perhaps, not like our concluding specimen the less, if it leaves a tear on his countenance, instead of a smile. We have, in fact, seen few things of the kind more truly pathetic. The English itself is not more broken than the heart which dictates it. O dear Betsey!-Again I write you this few line for express you my sorrow at your refuse of shake hands. If you knew what night unpleasant I had to the idée of displeas you, you have a too good heart for not to be sorry for.O what pain it is for me from you to separate. When I consider there is only two months more, and may be I not shall see you any more. Oh! dreadful moment for me! But one of my consolation, you will be happy then. As to me, I repete you, without you there will be no happiness for me. Adieu dear Betsey-remember sometime your faithful unfortunate, who will not cease to think of you. LOUIS. If the reader has ever seen a pair of shoes worn by the writer of this letter, he will be at no loss to unravel the mystery of this passage. If not, we are compelled to leave him in his ignorance. |