The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-11-26 00:00:00

(

whose wealth is to supply the necessary funds.—
Possessed of the main spring, hi, personal Labour
conirives all the machinery. Pervading the Con-
tinent from New Yost to New Orleans, he drurs
into his plan, by every allutement which he lean ai
contrive, men of all ranks and al! descriptions. To
youthful ardor he presents danger and glory ; to
ambition, rank, and titles, and honour-; ga as
the mines ofM-mico. To each peen* -te
addresses, he presents the objed adapted
taste ; his rec,hiting officers are appointed ;
are engaged throughout the Continent ; civil hie
is indeed quiet upon its surface; but in its beeout
this man his contrived to deposit the mateilt. AP,
with which the slightest tooth of his match pat
duets an explosion to shake the Continent. All this
his restless ambition contrived ; and in the autism*
of 1806 he goes, for the last tithe, to altrainut
match. On this er m inrsion he Tas with
•
hassett.
Who is Blannerhal:ett ? A native of Irelind,
:Imo of le:ters, who R :d frcris the storms of his own
country ti find quiet in outs. His history
of his anslik
frt.

library spreads .
treasures before him : a philosophical apparatus of-
fees to bins all the secrets and mysteries of nature;
Ataace, tranquillity, and innocence, shed their min-
tAled delights around hint ; and to crown the en-
chantment of the scene, a wife, who is said to be
rely beyond her sex, and graced-with every ac-
eomplishrnent that can render it irresistible, bad
blessed him with her love, and made him the father
of her children.
The evidence would convince you, Sir, that this
is km a feint pietnre of the real lite. In the Midst
cri all this peace, this innocenco, and this tranquil's-
ty, this feast of the wind. this pure banquet of the
heart—the destroyer comes--he closes to tern this
paradise into a bets--yet the Rowers uo no. n...-her
at his approact• , and no monitory shuddering throuili
the bosom of their unfortunate possessors warns
him of the ruin that is coming upon him. A stran-
ger presents himself. Introduced to their civil? i•s
by the high rank which he bad lately het on his
country, he soon suds his way to their hearts by the
dignity and elegance of his demeanour, Cie ilicht
and beauty of his conversation, and the sr.i.'uiflive
and fascinating power of his address. 'rbe coo..
attest was not a difficult one. InnOcence is ever sim-
ple and credulous; conscious of as design itszlf, it
suspefts lone in others; it wears nereguards before
its breasts every door, and portal, and avenueof the
heart is thrown open, and all who choose it, suer,
such was the state of Zden. when the serpent cu-
ter its bowers. The Prisoner. in a more engaging
form, winding himself into the open end unprac-
tised heart of the unfortunate Blannerhassett, found
but little difficulty in changing the native character •
of that heart, and the objefh of its affeaion. By
degrees, he infuses into it the poison of his own am-
bition ; he breathes into i: the tire of his own cou-
rage; a daring and a desperate thitst for glory ; an
ardour, panting for all the storms, and bustle, and
hurricane of lite. .
In a short time the whole man is change., and
every objeCi of bis foresee delight relinquialsedi No
more he enjoys the tranqdil scene; it has become
flat and insipid to his taste: his books are aban-
doned; his retort and crucible are thrown 'sick 6
.his shrubbery blooms, and breatties its fragrance upon
the air in vain—he likes it not : his ear no longer
drinks the rich melody of music: it longs for the
trumpet's clangour and the cannon's roar; even the
prattle of his babes, once so sweet. no longer affects
him; and the angel smile of his wife, which hitherto
touched his bosom with ecstasy so unspeakable, is
isms unfelt and unseen. Greater objeCts have taken
possession' of his soul—his imagination has been
dazeed by 165i1:111 of diadems, and stare, and ga7..
lets, and title, of nobility ; he has been Litight
to burn with restless emulation at the names
cf Cromwell, Cesar, and Bonaparte. His en- •
chante t isand is deitined soon to relapse into a de-
sart in a few nsisths, we find the tender and

'~

..

that war is not the natural ekutent of his asartillik
it had been, he would news rave changed Ira.
land for America. No Faris an army from fartlish-
ing the society natural and proper tor Mr. Blg.tutn-
hassett's charades-. that on his arritil in Amer**
he retired trcm the population of the Atlantic states,
and Sought quiet sad seditadein the bosom of oar
%sestets forests. But-he carried with hits taste, aad
tcionce, and wealtb.,s, and 10, tho desert smilel
fositising hirrestif MPa treihtilit island artist 0011%,
he rears upowit a ?alice and decorates it with every
romantic embellishmentof fancy. A shrubbery's
that 4fienaone might have envied, blooms around
him ; music that might bare charmed Caliinpe and
her nymphs, is his ; an extensive library spreads its