appeared. The publication was completed in 1847, forming three large octavo volumes.* The object of the publishers was to combine in the pictorial department, the attractions of the careful historical drawings of scenes and costumes of Planché and Harvey with the imaginative designs of Kenny Meadows, which had recently appeared in the London editions of Knight and Tyas. Mr. Verplanck's labors consist of a revision of the text, in which he has, in some cases, introduced readings varying from those of the ordinary editions, of selections from the notes of former editors, and the addition of others from his own pen. An excellent and novel feature of the latter is found in the care with which he has pointed out in the text several of the colloquial expressions often called Americanisms, which, out of use in England, have been pre-erved in this country. Mr. Verplanck has also given original prefaces to the plays, which, like the notes, have the ease and finish common to all his productions. His comments are judicious, and he has drawn his information from the best sources. Mr. Verplanck has for many years divided his time between the city of New York and his ancestral homestead at Fishkill Landing on the Hudson, a well preserved old mansion, in which the Society of the Cincinnati was founded. He is one of the Commissioners of Emigration of the city, a member of the vestry of Trinity church, and is the incumbent of many other positions of trust and usefulness. He preserves in a hale old age the clear ruddy complexion with the activity of youth. THE MOTHER AND THE SCHOOLMASTER.† Of what incalculable influence, for good or for evil upon the dearest interests of society, must be the estimate entertained for the character of the great body of teachers, and the consequent respectability of the individuals who compose it. What else is there in the whole of our social system of such extensive and powerful operation on the national character? There is one other influence more powerful, and but one. It is that of the MOTHER. The forms of a free government, the provisions of wise legislation, the schemes of the statesman, the sacrifices of the patriot, are as nothing compared with these. If the future citizens of our republic are to be worthy of their rich inheritance, they must be made so principally through the virtue and intelligence of their Mothers. It is in the school of maternal tenderness that the kind affections must be first roused and made habitual-the early sentiment of piety awakened and rightly directed—– the sense of duty and moral responsibility unfolded and enlightened. But next in rank and in efficacy to that pure and holy source of moral influence is that of the Schoolmaster. It is powerful already. What would it be if in every one of those School districts which we now count by annuaily increasing thousands, there were to be found one teacher well-informed without pedantry, religious without bigotry or fanaticism, proud and fond of his profes Shakespeare's Plays: with his Life. Illustrated with many hundred Wood-cuts, executed by H. W. Hewet, after designs by Kenny Meadows, Harvey, and others. Edited by Gulian C. Verplanck, LL.D., with Critical Introduction, Notes, etc., original and selected. In 3 vols. Harper & Brothers. 1847. + From the Tribute to the Memory of Daniel H. Barnes. sion, and honoured in the discharge of its duties! How wide would be the intellectual, the moral influence of such a body of men? Many such we have already amongst us-men humbly wise and obscurely useful, whom poverty cam.ot depress, 1.or neglect degrade. But to raise up a body of such men, as numerous as the wants and the dignity of the country demand, their labours must be fitly remunerated, and themselves and their calling cherished and honoured. The schoolmaster's occupation is laborious and ungrateful; its rewards are scanty and precarious. He may indeed be, and he ought to be, animated by the consciousness of doing good, that best of all consolations, that noblest of all motives. But that too must be often clouded by doubt and uncertainty. Obscure and it glorious as his daily occupation may appear to learned pride or worldly an bition, yet to be truly successful and happy, he must be animated by the spirit of the same great principles which inspired the most illustrious benefacto.s of mankind. If he bring to his task high talent and rich acquirement, he must be content to look into distant years for the proof that his labours have not been wasted -that the good seed which he daily scatters abroad does not fail on stony ground and wither away, or among thorns, to be choked by the cares, the delusions, or the vices of the world. He must solace his toils with the same prophetic faith that enabled the greatest of modern philosophers,* amidst the neglect or contempt of his own times, to regard himself as sowing the seeds of truth for posterity and the care of Heaven. He must arm himself against disappointment and mortification, with a portion of that same noble confidence which soothed the greatest of modern poets when weighed down by care and danger, by poverty, old age, and blindness, still -In prophetic dream he saw He must know and he must love to teach his pupils, not the meagre elements of knowledge, but the secret and the use of their own intellectual strength, exciting and enabling them hereafter to raise for themselves the veil which covers the majestic form of Truth. He must feel deeply the reverence due to the youthful mind fraught with mighty though undeveloped energies and affections, and mysterious and eternal destinies. Thence he must have learnt to reverence himself and his profession, and to look upon its otherwise ill-requited toils as their own exceeding great reward. If such are the difficulties and the discouragements such, the duties, the motives, and the consolations of teachers who are worthy of that name and trust, how imperious then the obligation upon every enlightened citizen who ki ows and feels the value of such men to aid them, to cheer them, and to honour them! SAMUEL WOODWORTH, THE author of the Old Oaken Bucket, was the youngest son of a farmer and revolutionary soldier, and was born at Scituate, Ma-s., January 13, 1785. He had but few educational advantages, as, according to the memoir prefixed to his poems in 1816, no school was taught in the village, except during the three winter months; and as a mistaken idea of economy always governed the selection of a teacher, he was generally as ignorant as his pupils. * Bacon." Serere posteris ac Deo immortali.” Some juvenile verses written by young Woodworth attracted the attention of the village clergyman, the Rev. Nehemiah Thomas, who gave him a winter's instruction in the classics, and endeavored to raise an amount sufficient to support him at college, but without success. He was soon after apprenticed to a printer, the trade of his choice, Benjamin Russell the editor and publisher of the Columbian Centinel, Boston. He remained with his employer a year after the expiration of his indentures, and then removed to New Haven, where he commenced a weekly paper called the Belles Lettres Repository, of which he was editor, publisher, printer, and (more than once) carrier. The latter duty was probably one of the lightest, as the periodical, after exhausting the cash received in advance, was discontinued at the end of the second month. 66 S Work with Several of Woodworth's poems first appeared in The Complete Coiffeur; or an Essay on the Art of Adorning Natural and of Creating Artificial Beauty. By J. B. M. D. Lafoy, Ladies' Hair Dresser, 1817. This is a small volume of about two hundred pages, one half being occupied with a French translation of the other. M. Lafoy was probably ambitious to follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Huggins, or perhaps regarded the affair as a shrewd mode of advertising. It is to be hoped he paid Woodworth well for this literary job. Woodworth left New Haven, and after a brief sojourn in Baltimore, removed to New York in 1809. In 1810 he married. During the contest of 1812 he conducted a quarto weekly paper entitled The War, and a monthly Swedenborgian magazine, The Halcyon Luminary and Theological Repository. Both were unsuccessful. His next literary undertaking was a contract in 1816 "to write a history of the late war, in the style of a romance, to be entitled The Champions of Freedom." The work was commenced in March, and the two duodecimos were ready for delivery in the following October. It possesses little merit as history or novel. In 1818, a small volume of Woodworth's poetical contributions to various periodicals was published in New York. A second collection appeared in 1826. In 1823, he commenced with George P. Morris the publication of the New York Mirror, a periodical with which he remained connected for a year. He was a frequent contributor of occasional verses to the newspapers, and his patriotic songs on the victories of the war of 1812 14, and on other occasions, were widely popular. the author of several dramatic pieces, mostly operatic, which were produced with success. these, The Forest Rose, keeps possession of the stage, on account of the amusing Yankee character who forms one of the dramatis personæ. He was One of In the latter years of his life he suffered from paralysis. A complimentary benefit was given to him at the National Theatre in Leonard street, at which W. E. Burton made his first appearance in New York. It produced a substantial result, a gift as acceptable as well deserved, his pecuniary resources being meagre. "The He died on the 9th of December, 1842. Old Oaken Bucket" is by far the best of his numerous lyrics. It will hold its place among the choice songs of the country. AUTUMNAL REFLECTIONS. The season of flowers is fled, The pride of the garden decayed, And spangled with colours less bright. The frolicsome Flora's domains, But though less delightful to view, That infantile age of the year: But the fruits of those beauties enjoy; Sweet infancy, sportive and gay; Its prattle, its smiles, and its tears, Like spring, or the dawning of day! But manhood's the season designed For wisdom, for works, and for use; To ripen the fruits of the mind, Which the seeds sown in childhood produce. Then infancy's pleasures regret, But the fruits of those pleasures enjoy; THE PRIDE OF THE VALLEY. The pride of the valley is lovely young Ellen, And Truth is the porter that waits at the wicket. The zephyr that lingers on violet-down pinion, With Spring's blushing honors delighted to dally, Ne'er breathed on a blossom in Flora's dominion, So lovely as Ellen, the pride of the valley. She's true to her Willie, and kind to her mother, To me her affections and promise are plighted, THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET. How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view; The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wild wood, And every loved spot which my infancy knew; The wide spreading pond, and the mill which stood by it, The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell; The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it, And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well. The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well. That moss-covered vessel I hail as a treasure; For often, at noon, when returned from the field, I found it the source of an exquisite pleasure, The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. How ardent I seized it with hands that were glowing, And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell; Then soon, with the emblem of truth overflowing, And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well; Though fill'd with the nectar that Jupiter sips. And sighs for the bucket which hangs in the well; JOHN PIERPONT. THE REV. JOHN PIERPONT was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, April 6, 1785. He is a descendant of the Rev. James Pierpont, the second minister of New Haven and a founder of Yale College. His early years were watched over with great care by an excellent mother, to whom he warmly expressed his gratitude in his subsequent poems. Entering Yale College he completed his course in 1804, and passed the succeeding four years as a private tutor in the family of Col. William Allston of South Carolina. On his return home he studied law in the celebrated school of his native town, and was admitted to practice in 1812. About the same period, being called upon to address the Washington Benevolent Society, Newburyport, where he had removed, he delivered the poem entitled "The Portrait," which he afterwards published, and which is included in the collection of his "Patriotic and Political Pieces." He soon, in consequence of impaired health, and the unsettled state of affairs produced by the war, relinquished his profession and became a mer Pierpont chant, conducting his business at Boston and afterwards at Baltimore. He was unsuccessful, and after a few years retired. In 1816 he published the Airs of Palestine, at Baltimore. It was well received, and was twice reprinted in the course of the following year at Boston. In 1819 Mr. Pierpont was ordained minister of the Hollis Street Unitarian church in Boston. He passed a portion of the years 1835–6 in Europe, and in 1840 published a choice edition of his poems.* In 1851, on occasion of the centennial celebration at Litchfield, he delivered a poem of considerable length, with the mixture of pleasantry and sentiment called for in such recitations, and which contains, among other things, a humorous sketch of the Yankee character. Besides his poems Mr. Pierpont has published several discourses. Mr. Pierpont is erect and vigorous in appearance, with the healthy ruddiness in complexion of a youth. His style of speaking is energetic. The chief poetical performances of Mr. Pierpont have been called forth for special occasions. Even his more matured poem, the Airs of Palestine, which first gave him reputation, was written for recitation at a charitable concert. Its design is to exhibit the associations of music combined with local scenery and national character in different countries of the world, the main theme being the sacred annals of Judea. It would bear as well the title The Power of Music. It is a succession of pleasing imagery, varied in theme and harmonious in numbers. Most of the other poems of Pierpont are odes on occasional topics of religious, patriotic, or philanthropic celebrations. They are forcible and elevated, and have deservedly given the author a high reputation for this speciality. INVITATIONS OF THE MUSE-FROM AIRS OF PALESTINE. Here let us pause:-the opening prospect view:— How fresh this mountain air!-how soft the blue, That throws its mantle o'er the lengthening scene! Those waving groves,-those vales of living green,— Those yellow fields,—that lake's cerulean face, That meets, with curling smiles, the cool embrace Of roaring torrents, lulled by her to rest;— That white cloud, melting on the mountain's breast: How the wide landscape laughs upon the sky! How rich the light that gives it to the eye! Where lies our path?-though many a vista call, See, there Parnassus lifts his head of snow; Airs of Palestine and other Poems, by John Pierpont Boston. Monroe & Co. There Nereids sing, and Triton winds his shell; And deck my mossy couch with Sharon's deathless rose. AN ITALIAN SCENE. On Arno's bosom, as he calmly flows, Of waveless water, rest her radiant head. How dark the mountain's shade! how still the scene! Hark! 'tis a convent's bell:-its midnight chime; DEDICATION HYMN. Written for the Dedication of the new Congregational Church in Plymouth, built upon the Ground occupied by the earliest Congregational Church in America. The winds and waves were roaring; And here, their God adoring, When breaking day they greeted, Gives back our choral song. From hearts as true as theirs! Their hill of graves behind us, Their watery way before, Where graves and griefs are not; Than that of love divine. CENTENNIAL ODE. Written for the Second Centennial Celebration of the Settle- For, on its rushing wings, Exiled though free. Ye sister hills, lay down These are the living lights, That from your bold, green heights, Till they who name the name Toward Bethlehem's star. And raised their hymn. Guard well your trust,- Their garnered dust. Thou high and holy ONE, All nature fills, While day shall break and close, While night her crescent shows, O, let thy light repose On these our hills. M. M. NOAH. MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH, whose popular reputation, as a newspaper writer of ease and pleasantry, was extended through the greater part of a long life, was born in Philadelphia July 19, 1785. He was early apprenticed to a mechanical business, which he soon left, and engaged in the study of the law, mingling in politics and literature. He removed to Charleston, S. C., where he was busily engaged in politics of the day. In 1813, under Madison, he was appointed U. S. consul to Morocco. The vessel in which he sailed from Charle-ton was taken by a British frigate, and he was carried to England and detained several weeks a prisoner, when he was allowed to proceed to his destination. After his return to America in 1819, he published a volume of his Travels in England, France, Spain, and the Barbary States, from 1813 to 1815. He had now established himself at New York, where he edited the National Advocate, a democratic journal. He was elected sheriff of the city and county. In a squib of the time he was taunted with his religion. "Pity," said his opponents, "that Christians are to be hereafter hung by a Jew." "Pretty Christians," replied the Major, as he was generally called, "to require hanging at all." The National Advocate was discontinued in 1826, and Noah then commenced the publication of the New York Enquirer, which he conducted for a while till it was annexed to the Morning Courier, a union which gave rise to the present large commercial journal, The Courier and Enquirer. In 1834, in connexion with Thomas Gill, he established a popular daily newspaper, The Evening Star, which attained considerable reputation from the ready pen of Noah, who was considered the best newspaper paragraphist of his day. His style in these effusions well represented his character: facile, fluent, of a humorous turn, pleasing in expression, though sometimes ungrammatical, with a cheerful vein of moralizing, and a knowledge of the world. The Star was united to the Times, becoming the Times and Star, and was finally merged in the Commercial Advertiser in 1840. After this, in July, 1842, Noah originated the Union, a daily paper, illustrating a new phase of the Major's political life; and like all his other undertakings of the kind, enlivened by the editor's peculiar pleasantry. It was continued in his hands through the year, after which Noah, in conjunction with Messrs. Deans and Howard, established a Sunday newspaper, The Times and Messenger, for which he wrote weekly till within a few days of his death, by an attack of apoplexy, March 22, 1851. There was no man better known in his day in New York than Major Noah. His easy manners, fund of anecdote, fondness for biographical and historical memoirs, acquaintance with the public characters, political and social, of half a century, with whom his newspaper undertakings had brought him in contact; his sympathy with the amusements of the town of all descriptions, actors, singers, and every class of performers, all of which were severally promoted by his benevolent disposition, made his company much sought and appreciated. In 1845 Noah delivered A Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews, which was publisheda fanciful speculation. Some time before his death he published a little volume of his newspaper essays, entitled Gleanings from a Gathered Harvest; but they are of his more quiet and grave moralizings, and hardly indicate the shrewdness and satiric mirth which pointed his paragraphs against the follies of the times. In his way, too, the kindly Major had been something of a dramatist. He I am happy to hear that your work on the American Drama is in press, and trust that you may realize from it that harvest of fame and money to which your untiring industry and diversified labors give you an eminent claim. You desire me to furnish you a list of my dramatic productions; it will, my dear sir, constitute a sorry link in the chain of American writers-my plays have all been ad captandum: a kind of amateur performance, with no claim to the character of a settled, regular, or domiciliated writer for the green-room-a sort of volunteer supernumerary-a dramatic writer by "particular desire, and for this night only," as they say in the bills of the play; my "line," as you well know, has been in the more rugged paths of politics, a line in which there is more fact than poetry, more feeling than fiction; in which, to be sure, there are "exits and entrances "-where the " prompter's whistle" is constantly heard in the voice of the people; but which, in our popular government. almost disqualifies us for the more soft and agreeable translation of the lofty conceptions of tragedy, the pure diction of genteel comedy, or the wit, gaiety, and humor of broad farce. I had an early hankering for the national drama, a kind of juvenile patriotism, which burst forth, for the first time, in a few sorry doggrels in the form of a prologue to a play, which a Thespian company, of which I was a member, produced in the South Street Theatre-the old American theatre in Philadelphia. The idea was probably suggested by the sign of the Federal Convention at the tavern opposite the theatre. You, no doubt, remember the picture and the motto: an excellent piece of painting of the kind, representing a group of venerable |