The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-05-21 00:00:00, page 2

world. I might say that the line is tra
i ed that far, not only distinctly and clear
ly, but brilliantlyfor by recurrence to
the Herald’s office, it will be found to
he studded and gemmed, through every
age, with kings and heroes. From the
Eastern border of Europe, where reign
ed Japheth, the third son of my ancient
progenitor, Noah, the first mighty Hum
mageh alter the Flood, one of his de
scendants went to Palestine. Some o!
the family found their way into Italy;
and J ulius Cesar, who was the greatest
of the Kummagers in his day, left in
Albion some of his blood, when he aban
doned that island. From this stock 1
am descended. In the reign of James
the II. of England and VI. of Scotland,
my great grandfather, in the maternal
line, came from Europe, in order, by
rummaging the new world, to find that
juietness and ind pendency which had
been banished Ironi the old.—With re
spect to the collateral brandies of my
•tamr, it would be tedious to enumerate
,-uch as have made a bustle in the world.
From Alexander of Macedon, " ho ccr
ainly \*as a descendant from Ham, the
early proprietor of Africa, the records
>1 our family shew that the little Corsi
an is lineally derived. And it is a
question,not yet clearly settled, between
come of my brethren, whether Catiline
Mnd Aaron Burr be oi the African stock
or not ? 1 have been disposed to advo
cate the affirmative, merely from physi
ognomomcal sensations,—because the
• raitsoi their moral character , alone,
' ould justly class them with the poste
:ty ol the* graceless lather of the cur
ed Canaan.
But 1 am not disposed to speak largely
of the unamiahle part ol iny illustrious
family. It better suits m\ present pur
pose, to impress upon my readers the*
belief ol my mild and pacific disposi
tion—a disposition so rej 1 te w itli “■ the*
milk of human kuvUics:," as really to
prefer the rummaging ol iny library and
enriching my ninul with the lucid
thoughts of others, instead ol sharing
with cousin Napoh on in the plunder ol
^ummngvJ ; id . :n .acked dominions, e
ven it 1 might. i
Some ont. ol tin A* inn mage r.v, reflect
ing on the condo t.,l many -,1'his laniily,
makes the followon;' remark :_
All the rcai |K«!ire. «n ' c* n*. vw ncieR of
life He in a narrow compel ; hn* ir o thr hu
mour of m nk n<l, to 1 e ilwsy |0, Ui! f,„ ^,^<1
an.I ftrainiin- a*tcr one who 1.44 got tb'* *Urt ol
them io wealth and b^uiur.
V A R IE T T.
To the Editor of the Wheeling Repository.
Sir,
Your u friend Coglihulomf cannot be
sufficiently applauded for his manf ul at
tack on the foolish schemes of Noval.
To understand the philosophy of lan
guage, requires not only a good portion
of brains, but a capacity to think and
reflect. This capacity is possessed by
but lew, and it is very unreasonable that
those few should be feasted on the cream
ol literature, when the great mass of
readers would prefer a xvhipt syllabub,
which is not only more easily digested,
but better adapted to their palates.
To those xvhipt syllabub readers, the
schemes of Noval are justly offensive.
They care nothing about the orthogra
phy of the language they speak. To them
roast beef is “ rust” beef, and they can
digest it as easily, whether it is spelt
correctly, or on the S'onoskrit plan adopt
ed by Coglihulom.
The ground ol Coglihulom’s complaint
is, that he cannot understand the propo
sitions of Noval. No better reason for
finding fault need be assigned. To be
sure, some diffident persons would have
j suspected, that this proceeded from a
delect m men* own pericraimnns; but a
suspicion of this nature would be very
unbecoming such a critic as CoglihM^
loan A confident opinion, that every
thing is nonsense, which they cannot
comprehend, is, and should be, a first
principle w ith the whole criticising fra
ternity. It is a short and very forcible
system of logic.-1 cannot understand
this. “ / am ignorant of its utility;"
therefore it must be nonsense, ** hierogly
phics, Latte u Watatonu ky,” orivhatevcr
you please that is ridiculous. This kind
ol argument is so conclusive, that I hope
we shall hear no more of Koval, and
that the Repository will h re-after be de
voted to such subjects as can be under
stood without cither capacity, thought,
or ri flection.
The following little scrap, which I
lately bogged of a friend, for the pur
pose of hating it published in this num
ber ol the Repository, is of this descrip
tion, and quite apropos to the subject.
Without und rstanding the gamut,—
without know lug the differ nee between
quavers and semi-demi-quavers, the Ass
became a connoisseur and proficient in
mir-it*, bo Coglihulom and others, w ith
icuia 4. i on ledge ot anyone rule of either
syntax or orthography, are enabled to
condemn a treatise on the subject, in a
strain as intelligible and entertaining, as
the music of the Ass was sxvect and me
lodious. Quidnunc.
The Fi.ute-playing Ass.
From the Spaiiifh ot Thom :sDe Triarte, Fab viii.
The fal)le I recite,
Whether wrong, whether right,
Has just occurr’d, and quite
By Cnance.
O’er yonder pasture lawn,
By hunger, no doubt, drawn,
An Ass was passing on
By chanccv
A flute was on the spot,
Which Corydon, I wot,
OrThirsis, had lbrgot,
By chance.
The Ass drew near to smell,
W hen, marvellous to tell /
He snorted in so xvell
By chance,
T hat th' air, which sneak’d about.
Made, in its passage out,
A moat melodious shout
By chance.
The Ass was heard to say,
“ What music / can play.7
Yet lolks persist that mine
Is music Assinine.”
Without the rules of art,
An Ass mtnj get the start,
And act a clever part
By chance..
Mr. Armstrong,
Sir— 1 he following ode of Anacrc-.
on, the only one ol a melancholy cast
handed down to us as the production oi
that poet, delineates so faithfully thp in
stability and uncertainty of human en
joyments, that it cannot fail to be ac
ceptable to every description of readers
“ f-iolden hues of youth are fled,
Ifoary locks deform my head;
liloomy graces, dalliance guv,
VI! the flowers of life, decay.
W ith’tmg age In gins to trace
Sad'memori als o’er my f ace,
l ime ha sli d Us sweetest bloom ,
AH t!u future must be gloom/
1 his awakes iny hourly sighing:—
Dreary is the thought of dying!
Pluto’s is a dark abode;
Sad the journey! sad the road J
And the gloomy travel o’er,
Ah’ we caureturn no lViore*”’