eager pursuit of that which is so small a part of the whole? Why spend a life in the feverish pursuit of knowledge, which is every where limited and intersected by ignorance, and which perhaps may burst in full splendor unbidden upon us, on our entrance at the portals of an eternal state? What if I do understand the philosophy of that cloudy drapery that hangs along the western horizon? Does the sight therefore give me more pleasure, while unfathomable depths of wonders lie beyond? 'Vanity of vanities!' saith the preacher-vanity of vanities-all is vanity!' 'Ay,' said I, and if he shall say thus, whose pursuit has been after knowledge, how much more may he affirm it, who has formed himself from the first, a child of passion, the history of whose existence is the history of his feelings; feelings obstructed, impeded ; at one time crushed by the iron foot of fate, at another trampled upon by scornful men? If such an one gain his object, what is there in it? Nothing! And if he gain it not, what a life of torture and folly is his? Yet if one, on his approach to manhood, find his fortunes so lowly, that it seems presumptuous to aim at the actions of great men; if his honest efforts are met with frowns, and his aspirings with ridicule, is it a weakness, or is it not, now and then to give way to his emotions, to spurn human kind, and live in a world of his own? And what a glorious world, often, is that of his own, when, withdrawing itself from external means of delight, the mind falls back upon its own resources, and rises and dwells in its bright ethereal habitation, above clouds and storms!' I verily believe a silent twilight hour is a better teacher of true philosophy, than the lessons of the living, or the tomes of the dead. SUNRISE IN GREECE. A DRAMATIC SCENE: FROM AN UNFINISHED POEM. A flower-garden belonging to the Temple of Diana, near Thebes, beyond which is a high mountain. Voices are heard welcoming the morn. A VOICE IN THE AIR. AURORA, rise! the orient star A VOICE FROM THE GARDEN. The fawn has startled from the shade, Which, in the brook, his light form made; The glad lark tirra-lirra sings, As up and around he gaily springs : A VOICE FROM THE MOUNTAIN, With which gradually other voices join, 'till they form a chorus. The welkin reddening, burns afar; The mountain's brow is crowned with gold, There Diana, huntress, chides *Aurora is always represented by the Greeks as throwing back her veil, to intimate that Night was left behind her. During the last lines of the song, Diana and her nymphs appear, sweeping down from the east, and returning lower toward the forest, disappear. Antigone appears, listening. 'A strain of music, if mine ear be true, Stole wandering down the wind. What could it be I would not then shrink from those dreams that leave The forms I love with sorrow visited; Have done, their cold brow, heeding not my touch. I do remember me, when once I stood With my pale mother on this spot, to gaze On yon deep heaven.' Ismené, entering with a garland. 'Here, sister! I have brought A fairy gift for you. Can you divine Whose cunning hand has wreathed these beautiful flowers? I'll but reveal it to the wind-wooed leaves, Indulgent to a tale so like their own, And it shall go no farther. I have found it 'Ir the world is ever to be reformed, woman, sensible, enlightened, well-educated and principled, must be the original mover in the great work.' FLINT. For many WE hear a great deal about the influence of woman. years past, it has been the favorite theme of moralists, both in Europe and America. We have volume after volume addressed to us, teaching our duties as wives, as mothers, and as mistresses of families. We have committed to our charge, and very justly too, the entire guidance of the nursery, and the early training of its beloved inmates. And we are also told, that it is our task to 'be the original mover in the great work of reforming the world.' Respecting the justice of this imposed duty, we shall here make no inquiry. Our business now is to examine the aggregate state of American female society, and to see how far we have been benefitted by the exertions that have been made to bring us to a sense of our responsibilities. Although the varieties of female character are as numerous as nature and circumstances can make them, yet it will be sufficient for our purpose to divide them into four classes: the fashionable, the domestic, the intellectual, and the religious. In making a classification of a being as complex as man, all we can do is, to select the prominent, distinctive features, as there is scarcely an individual who does not unite some qualities to these, which may belong to a different order. In the fashionable class, are included all those of every station in life, who are guided by the tastes and opinions, and follow the habits and customs, of the fashionable world. For, in our acceptation of the term, the mechanic's daughter, whose chief pleasure is in dress and visiting, is as essentially fashionable as the heiress of the wealthy merchant, whose enjoyment is derived from the same sources; though one may be decked in vulgar finery, while the other is dressed in strict accordance with the latest European costume, and the former is trudging on foot to gossip with her acquaintance, while the latter, in making her morning calls, is borne from one mansion to another in her splendid equipage. If it can be denied that this order is the most numerous, still it must be acknowledged, that it is the one whose influence is most prominent and pervading. It ought to be the business of the others to counteract the evil effects of this perverted influence; but with a few bright exceptions here and there, all are content to submit to the guidance of this - the reigning class. Whether it be owing to ignorance, indolence, or want of reflection, we will not say; but certain it is, that there has as yet been no strenuous or united effort made to reform their own sex, by those upon whom the responsibility rests. And it is for this reason, that those usurpers have so long and so firmly maintained their tyrannizing supremacy. Among the most striking faults evident in our fashionable females, the most ludicrous is their avowed preference for every thing foreign and imported, whether it be a bonnet, a pier-table, or a man. American manufactures, American productions, or American gentlemen, savor of vulgarity, and want of gentility; but European is the talismanic adjunct, which, when affixed to any thing, whatever it may be, gives it an adventitious value, even if it has no inherent one. We are frequently told, with all due consequence, that such an article or such a person came from London or Paris; and though we are expected to be deeply impressed with the great importance of this fact, yet we can see nothing better, more beautiful, or more worthy of respect, than we daily meet with in our own specimens of nature's handy-work-man-or that of our native artisans. Though our countrymen may be less skilled in the obsequious gallantry of foreign coxcombs, and though their manners may seldom equal the bowing graces of the French dancing-master, or the nobleman's valet, yet the generality of them are men whose tastes and pursuits are worthy of their sex. It is true, that fashionable women may find them less suited to play the agreeable' as morning visitors, or in dancing attendance on their whims and caprices at the midnight assembly; yet they possess the qualities of intellect and character that are requisite to make good husbands and faithful friends. Instead of contemning the professional man, or the man of business, for his awkwardness, his mauvaise honte, or his ignorance of the trifling ceremonies of society, we should honor him for it, as a convincing proof that his time and attention have been more nobly, more rationally employed, than in practising the airs and graces necessary to make him a lady's man,' or in assiduously studying 'The Laws of Etiquette,' for the important information of the size and number of cards necessary to be left upon a morning call, and whether they should be engraved |