Unpitying frosts and Autumn's power Shall leave no vestige of this flower. From morning suns and evening dews At first thy little being came: If nothing once, you nothing lose, For when you die you are the same; The space between is but an hour, The frail duration of a flower. THE PROSPECT OF PEACE. Though clad in winter's gloomy dress' The active sail again is seen To greet our western shore ; No more the vales, no more the plains An iron harvest yield; Peace guards our doors, impels our swains To till the grateful field: From distant climes, no longer foes, (Their years of misery past,) Nations arrive, to find repose In these domains at last. And, if a more delightful scene Attracts the mortal eye, Where clouds nor darkness intervene, On freedom's soil those fabrics plann'd, That make secure our native land, Ambitious aims and pride severe, While commerce from all climates brings The winter of 1814-15. Through toiling care and lengthen'd views, That share alike our span, Gay, smiling hope her heaven pursues, The darkness of the days to come And smiles o'er Nature's gaping tomb, THE JUG OF RUM. Within these earthen walls confin'd, Here, only by a cork controll'd, Thrice happy he, who early taught A spring, that never yet grew stale- JONATHAN LAWRENCE, 1807-1837. THIS young poet, of great promise, was born in New York in November, 1807, and graduated at Columbia College in 1822. He entered the profession of the law, and the highest expectations were formed of his future eminence, when he was suddenly removed by death on the 26th of April, 1837. After his death, his brother collected, and had printed for private circulation, his various writings, consisting of prose essays and poetry, which are distinguished for great beauty and purity of thought and style. Among them is the encouraging and spirited direction, in all the trials of life, to LOOK ALOFT. In the tempest of life, when the wave and the gale If the friend who embraced in prosperity's glow, Should the visions which hope spreads in light to thine eye, Should they who are dearest, the son of thy heart, "Look aloft" from the darkness and dust of the tomb, And oh when death comes in his terrors, to cast WILLIAM WIRT, 1772-1834. WILLIAM WIRT, the son of Jacob and Henrietta Wirt, was born in Bladensburg, Maryland, on the 8th of November, 1772. His father died when he was an infant, and his mother when he was but eight years old. An orphan at this tender age, he passed into the family and under the guardianship of his uncle, Jasper Wirt, who resided near the same village. His uncle and aunt did all they could to supply the place of the father and mother, and the next year, as there was no good school in the neighborhood, sent him to a classical school in Georgetown, eight miles from Bladensburg, taught by a Mr. Dent. Here he remained till he was eleven, when he was removed to a very flourishing school kept by the Rev. James Hunt, in Montgomery county, Maryland. Here he remained till 1787, when the school was discontinued, during which period of four years, he received the principal part of his education; being carried through as much of the Latin and Greek classics as was then taught in grammar-schools. At this school he formed an intimate friendship with Ninian Edwards, afterward governor of Illinois, whose father, Mr. Benjamin Edwards, invited young Wirt to his house, in Montgomery County, to pursue his studies with his son. This kind invitation was accepted, and in Mr. Edwards' family Wirt continued nearly two years. In the spring of 1790, he commenced the study of law, at Montgomery Court-House, with Mr. Wm. P. Hunt, the son of his old preceptor; completed his course with Mr. Thomas Swann, formerly United States attorney for the District of Columbia; and in 1792 commenced practice at Culpepper Court-House, in Virginia, at the age of twenty years. In a year or two, his practice had considerably extended, and in 1795 he married the eldest daughter of Dr. George Gilmer, a distinguished physician, and took up his residence at Pen Park, the seat of his father-in-law, near Charlottesville; and here he was introduced to the acquaintance of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and other persons of celebrity. In 1799, he lost his wife; and soon after, to change the scene of his trials, his friends urged him to allow himself to be nominated as clerk of the House of Delegates. He was elected; and after having performed the duties of this office two years, he was, in 1802, appointed Chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia, and then took up his residence at Williamsburg. In the same year, he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Colonel Gamble, of Richmond, with whom he lived with the greatest happiness till his death; and who united to every virtue of the wife and the mother, literary attainments of no ordinary character.' At the close of the year 1803, Mr. Wirt removed to Norfolk, and entered upon the assiduous practice of his profession. Just before this, he wrote the celebrated letters published in the "Richmond Argus," under the title of "The British Spy," which were afterwards collected into a small volume, and have passed through numerous editions 2 In 1806, he took up his residence at Richmond, believing that he would there find a wider and more lucrative professional field, and in this city he remained till his appointment to the attorney-generalship of the United States. In the next year, he greatly distinguished himself in the trial of Aaron Burr, for high treason. Few trials in any country ever excited a greater sensation than this, both from the nature of the accusation, and the eminent talents and political station of the accused. Mr. Wirt's speech in this trial occupied four hours, and was replete throughout with a creative fancy, polished wit, keen repartee, elegant and apposite illustration, and logical reasoning, which are rarely combined in so high a degree. It placed him, at once, in the rank of the very first advocates in the country. In 1808, he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for the city of Richmond. It was the first as well as the last time he ever sat in any legislative body, as he preferred the more congenial pursuits of his profession. In 1812, he wrote the greater part of a series of essays, which were originally published in the "Richmond Enquirer," under the title of "The Old Bachelor," and have since, in a collective form, passed through several editions. The "Life of Patrick Henry," the largest of his literary productions, was first published in 1817. In 1816, he was appointed by Mr. Madison the United States attorney for the District of Virginia. In 1817, he removed to Washington, having been appointed by Mr. Monroe Attorney-General of the United States, a post which he occupied with most distinguished reputation till 1828, through the entire administrations of Monroe and Adams. In the latter part of this year, he removed to Baltimore, where he resided for the rest of his life. Previous to this, in October, 1826, he had been 'One proof of her extensive reading as well as her delicate taste is the work she published in 1829, entitled " Flora's Dictionary; by A Lady." As far as my knowledge goes, it was the first of the kind published in our country, and I think it has never since been excelled by any of its numerous competitors. The poetical selections are most tasteful and apposite, and many friends contributed to it. The best edition that I have seen is the tenth, published by the Harpers. |