But that which I intend thereby, is that they would keep bound: And meddle not with Gon's worship, for which they have And I am not alone herein, there's many hundreds more, score. Indeed, I really believe, it's not your business, To meddle with the church of God in matters more or less." "Now loving friends and countrymen, I wish we may be "T is now a time for every man to see with his own eyes. To show a spirit that is high; to scold and domineer; To live in such hypocrisy, as men may think us good, "I am for peace, and not for war, and that's the reason why Without offence, your real friend, it is PETER FOULGER." Probably the first native bard was he who is described on a tombstone at Roxbury as "BENJAMIN THOMSON, learned schoolmaster and physician, and ye renowned poet of New England." He was born in the town of Dorchester, (now Quincy,) in 1640, and educated at Cambridge, where he received a degree in 1622. His principal work, "New England's Crisis," appears to have been written during the famous wars of PHILIP, Sachem of the Pequods, against the colonists, in 1675 and 1676. The following is the prologue, in which he laments the growth of luxury among the people: "The times wherein old POMPION was a saint, Good-morrow, brother, is there aught you want? Than I to capon, turkey-cock, or pigeon; "T was ere the neighboring Virgin-Land had broke But valour snib'd it. Then were men of worth, THOMSON died in April, 1714, aged 74. He wrote besides his "great epic," three shorter poems, neither of which have much merit. ROGER WILLIAMS, whose hest verses appear in his book on the Indian languages, NATHANIEL PITCHER, and many others were in this period known as poets. The death of PITCHER was cecelebrated in some verses entitled "Pitchero Threnodia," in which he was compared to PINDAR, HORACE, and other poets of antiquity. The most remarkable character of his age in this country was the Reverend COTTON MATHER, D.D. and F. R. S., who was born in Boston on the ninth of February, 1662. When twelve years of age he was qualified for admission to the college at Cambridge; at sixteen composed systems of logic and physics; and on receiving his master's degree, chose for his thesis "Puncta Hebraica sunt originis divinæ." The president, in his Latin oration, at commencement, said, "MATHER is named COTTON MATHER. What a name! but I am wrong: I should have said, what names! I shall say nothing of his reverend father, since I dare not praise him to his face; but should he represent and resemble his venerable grandfathers, JOHN COTTON and RICHARD MATHER,* in piety, learning, and elegance of mind, solid judgment, prudence, and wisdom, he will bear away the palm; and I trust that in him COTTON and MATHER will be united and flourish again." In his eighteenth year he was invited to become a colleague of his father in the ministry of the "North Church," but declined the place for three years. In 1684 he was married, and from this period devoted himself with untiring assiduity to professional and literary duties. During the last days of the disgraceful administration of Sir EDMUND ANDROS he took an active part in politics, and twice by his eloquence and wisely temperate counsels saved the city from riot and revolution. In 1692 he was unfortunately conspicuous in the terrible scenes connected with the witchcraft superstition, and he has been unjustly ridiculed and condemned for the credulity and cruelty he then manifested. But he was no more credulous or cruel than under similar circumstances were Sir MATTHEW HALE, and many others, whose intellectual greatness and moral excellence are unquestioned; and in an age when tens of thousands believe in the puerile, ridiculous, and contemptible stuff called "spiritualism," the silliest and most disgusting delusion that ever illustrated the weakness of the human understanding, it certainly should not be a cause of surprise that the strange phenomena which he undoubtedly witnessed led MATHER into the far more respectable as well as time-honored error of a visible and punishable complicity of men and women with devils. In the reaction of the popular excitement an attempt was made to show that he was responsible for the excesses which had tarnished the fame of the colony; but a candid examination of the subject will lead to a different conclusion; participating, as it must be confessed he did, in the melancholy infatuation, he yet counselled caution and moderation, and evinced a willingness to sacrifice his convictions as to demoniacal interference rather than hazard the lives of any of the accused. Although his mind was not of the first order for clearness and solidity, he was nevertheless a man of genius, and of extraordinary erudition, facility in literary execution, and perseverance. He wrote readily in seven languages, and was the author of * An epitaph upon RICHARD MATHER runs thus: "Under this stone lies RICHARD MATHER, three hundred and eighty-three separate publications, besides unpublished manuscripts sufficient for half a dozen folio volumes. The Magnalia," "Christian Philosopher," "Essays to do Good," "Wonders of the Invisible World," and many more, however disfigured by those striking faults of style which at the time were a prevailing fashion, contain passages of eloquence not less attractive than peculiar. With all their pedantry, their anagrams, puns, and grotesque conceits, they are thoughtful and earnest, and abound in original and shrewd observations of human nature, religious obligation, and providence. In 1718 Doctor MATHER published "Psalterum And pushed him down, so, into dismal vaults- A man, oh, how beloved of GoD and men! There are however glimpses of nature even in the poems of COTTON MATHER. After having mentioned the sad fate of the Lady ARBELLA JOHNSON, whose religious ardor brought her to America, and who sunk under the fatigues and privations of exile, he adds, with touching pathos: "And for her virtuous husband, ISAAC JOHNSON, "he tried To live without her-liked it not-and died!" COTTON MATHER himself died on the thirteenth of February, 1724, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. ROGER WOLCOTT, a major-general at the capture of Louisburg, and afterward governor of Connecticut, published a volume of verses at New London, in 1725. His principal work is "A Brief Account of the Agency of the Honorable JOHN WINTHROP, Esquire, in the Court of King Are courteous, and conduct them on their way, The cloudy chariots threatening take the plains; Start from the barriers-night with lightning blazed, "Here the ship captain, in the midnight watch, Stamps on the deck, and thunders up the hatch, And to the mariners aloud he cries, 'Now all from safe recumbency arise! All hands aloft, and stand well to your tack, Engendering storms have clothed the sky with black, Big tempests threaten to undo the world: Down topsail, let the mainsail soon be furled: Haste to the foresail, there take up a reef: "Tis time, boys, now if ever, to be brief; "Meanwhile our founders in the cabin sat, "Still more gigantic births spring from the clouds, He with a faith sure bottom'd on the word In a speech to the king, descriptive of the valley of the Connecticut, WINTHROP says— "The grassy banks are like a verdant bed, Sings cheerful hymns to the approaching morn. The song once set, each bird tunes up his lyre, Responding heavenly music through the quire. .... "Each plain is bounded at its utmost edge With a long chain of mountains in a ridge, Whose azure tops advance themselves so high, They seem like pendants hanging in the sky." In an account of King PHILIP's wars, he tells how the soldier "met his amorous dame, Whose eye had often set his heart in flame. In the next page he paints the rising of the sun- The next American verse-writer of much reputa tion was the Reverend MICHAEL WIGGLESWORTH, (1631, 1707.) He was graduated at Harvard College soon after entering upon his twentieth year, became a minister, and when rendered unable to preach, by an affection of the lungs, amused himself with writing pious poems. One of his volumes is entitled "Meat out of the Eater, or Meditations concerning the necessity and Usefulness of Affliction unto God's Children, all tending to prepare them for, and comfort them under, the Cross." His most celebrated performance, "The Day of Doom, or a Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgment, with a short Discourse about Eternity," passed through six editions in this country, and was reprinted in London. A few verses will show its quality "Still was the night, serene and bright, This was their song, their cups among, The evening before." After the "sheep" have received their reward, the several classes of "goats" are arraigned before the judgment-seat, and, in turn, begin to excuse themselves. When the infants object to damnation on the ground that "Adam is set free And brought them to this pass," the Puritan theologist does not sustain his doctrine very well, nor quite to his own satisfaction even: and the judge, admitting the palliating circum stances, decides that although "in bliss They may not hope to dwell, Still unto them He will allow The easiest room in hell.” At length the general sentence is pronounced, and the condemned begin to "wring their hands, their caitiff-hands, And gnash their teeth for terror; They cry, they roar, for anguish sore, And gnaw their tongues for horror. But get away, without delay, And roar eternally." The Reverend BENJAMIN COLMAN, D.D.," married in succession three widows, and wrote three poems;" but though his diction was more elegant than that of most of his contemporaries, he had less originality. His only daughter, Mrs. JANE TUBELL, wrote verses which were much praised by the critics of her time. The "Poems, on several Occasions, Original and Translated, by the late Reverend and Learned JOHN ADAMS, M.A.," were published in Boston in 1745, four years after the author's death. The volume contains paraphrases of the Psalms, the Book of Revelation in heroic verse, translations from HoRACE, and several original compositions, of which the longest is a "Poem on Society," in three cantos. The following picture of parental tenderness is from the first canto: "The parent, warm with nature's tender fire, Of rising reason, and the future man, But when succeeding years have fixed his growth, "But now the Muse in softer measure flows, A frown will gather, and discharge a storm: Be all distraction, or all artifice? True love does flattery as much disdain As, of its own perfections, to be vain. The heart can feel whate'er the lips reveal, It likes, but ne'er can love, another fair. "Last Wednesday morning expired, in this place, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and this day was interred, with a just solemnity and respect, the reverend and learned JoHN ADAMS, M.A., only son of the Honourable JOHN ADAMS, Esquire. The corpse was carried and placed in the center of the college hall, from whence, after a portion of Holy Scripture, and a prayer very suitable to the occasion, by the learned head of that society, it was taken and deposited within sight of the place of his own education. The pall was supported by the fellows of the college, the professor of mathematics, and another master of arts. And, next to a number of sorrowful relatives, the remains of this great man were followed by his honour the lieutenant-governor, with some of his majesty's council and justices; who, with the reverend the president, the professor of divinity, and several gentlemen of distinction from this and the neighbouring towns, together with all the members and students of the college, composed the train that attended in an orderly procession, to the place that had been appointed for his mournful interment. The character of this excellent person is too great to be comprised within the limits of a paper of intelligence. It deserves to be engraven in letters of gold on a monument of marble, or rather to appear and shine forth from the works of some genius, of an uncommon sublimity, and equal to his But sufficient to perpetuate his memory to the latest posterity, are the immortal writings and composures of this departed gentleman; who, for his genius, his learning, and his piety, ought to be enrolled in the highest class in the catalogue of Fame." own. In the Middle Colonies literature was cultivated as industriously as in New England, and generally in a more liberal spirit, though Quakerism, when its ascendancy was absolute, was much more intolerant than Puritanism, as may be learned from the interesting history of WILLIAM BRADFORD, the first printer in Pennsylvania. The founder of the colony, indeed, had been unwilling to have a printing-press set up in Philadelphia, and was probably delighted when BRADFORD was driven away. The earliest attempt at poetry in the region drained by the Delaware, was probably "A True Relation of the Flourishing State of Pennsylvania," by JOHN HOLME, of Holmesburg, first pub *This was the first newspaper published in America. The first number was issued the twenty-fourth of April, 1704, and the first sheet printed was taken damp from the press by Chief Justice SEWEL, to exhibit as a curiosity to President WILLARD, of Harvard University. The "Newsletter" was continued seventy-two years. lished, from the original manuscript in my possession, by the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1848. It is exceedingly curious. The author says: "I have often travelled up and down, And made my observations on each town; The truth of matters I well understand, And thereby know how to describe this land;" "Poor people here stand not in fear The working hand in this good land "If children dear increase each year Of stock and trade such gain is made "Whoe'er thou art, take in good part "Some false reports hinder resorts Of those who would come here; That which puts them in fear, "But here they 'll bide and safely hide Whilst Europe broils in war; The fruit of the curse, which may prove worse "For why should we, who quiet be, Return into the noise Of fighting men, which now and then "I bid farewell to all who dwell In England or elsewhere, Set forward to come here." About the year 1695 Mr. HENRY BROOKE, a son of Sir HENRY BROOKE, of York, was appointed to a place in the customs, at Lewiston, in Delaware, and for many years was much in the best society of Philadelphia. One of his poetical pieces is a "Discourse concerning Jests," addressed to RoBERT GRACIE, whom FRANKLIN describes as a young man of fortune-generous, animated, and witty fond of epigrams, and more fond of his friends. A specimen is here quoted: "I prithee, BOB, forbear, or if thou must "T is so,' you say, 'all this I freely grant;' The tread, the watch, the windows, door, or tub..... These, though my hate-and these God knows I hate More than all shapes of action, corporation, The entire performance is in the same respect able style. It is possible that one of the "Kentish friends" referred to was the author of "The Invention of Letters," of whom some account will be given on another page. That the excellences of BROOKE were appreciated by his literary associates is evident from a passage in a satire entitled "The Wits and Poets of Pennsylvania," "In BROOKE'S capacious heart the muses sit, When FRANKLIN arrived in Philadelphia, in ""T is here APOLLO does erect his throne: In the same production he implores the goddess of numbers so to aid him that he may sing the attractions of his theme in verses "Such as from BRIENTNALL'S pen were wont to flow, Or more judicious TAYLOR's used to show." FRANKLIN describes BRIENTNALL as "a great lover of poetry, reading every thing that come in his way, and writing tolerably well; ingenious in many little trifles, and of an agreeable conversation." JACOB TAYLOR, Schoolmaster, physician, surveyor, almanac-maker, and poet, "With years oppressed, and compassed with woes," gave to the public the last and best of his works, Pennsylvania," a descriptive poem, in 1728. In |