The Arkansas advocate., 1831-08-17

q qaarto, or even st thin octave, requires time and labor, ut delicate periodi- cal may be tossed of in an idle moment. without aifrightiIag the most indolent. or infringing aposs the employments oi tie most industrious man. Like the same popular v;alnd, above alluded to, they are of various qualities, and may be improved or eieteriorated by those who serve them up. In short, fat pc fiodieai llsse fat oyster, is good in every mouth which cont 1uns an 7, but the for mer have this advantage, that they are equally in season tE toughout the rest of l the
 This is the golden age of periodicals. Nothing can he dc 9e without them. seets and parties, benevolent societies, and Ingenious indi8id dnals, all have their periodicals. Science and literature. religion and law, q sricuIture and the arts, resort alike to this mode of en. Tightening the pubic mind. Every man, and every party, thct seeks to es- tabilsh new theory, or to break down an old one, commel ces operations, like board of war, by founding naagazfne. W have annuals, L raonthly's and week. ys--revieWs, orthode X and heterodox- journals of educatiola and humanity, off law, divinity and phys,e--magazines for ladies and gentlemen, publications com inefeiai, mechanical, metaI hysicaI, sen timental, musical, anti-iogm.stieal, and nonsensfcal.
 .Ihe dog-star rages! nay, lis past 1oubt, 3e4a BedlaE1 or Parnassus is let out: ! IT fire Ill each eye, and. papers in each hand ihey rage, reclte, asad madden round the l
 e9 land. What walls can guard sne, or what shades
 can hide4
 They pierce my thiekets, through my grot
 they glide, ,oy ny tand, oy water, they renew the charge, | They stop the chari Ii, and board the l
 barge.o
 Whether We travel, ,brstay athome, we are feasted with periodicals to n snrieit. l they peryade tlle Atmosphere of the country like an epidsgnic. Go to tea pa aft aid you find so9syiners served up i with the confectionery; dine with d friend, and you get reviews with your vine; walk in the street., and a fellow assalis you with prosp ectus; take re- fnge in bookstore, and your retreat is cut oil by huge piles of periodicals.
 For my own part, have no quarrel | With the makers ofthese amrN,ing works, on account of their numbey: the more the merrier. q like this roc king of the battlements;' there is always something 1 to be gained by the collision of intel feet; "when mind meets mind then comes the tug Of war'--and peaceful readers may gather up, from amid the h gaps of loose ideas, and mutliated volumes. gems of the richest value, as th follow CTS of an army gather spells lnong the 1 piles of slain.
 wish, however, 10 say a fe V words, l as to the naonaer in which son1e of our literary periodicals are conducted at present. Our editors have become too formal, and stately, and fastid ious. They are as hard to please as bichelors off forty; and their power of pleasing is much in the same ratio. Instead of the infinite variety of topics, which once gave atcrestto works Of ttiis iiesei ssj, tiioi, nothing is now admitted but reviews, tales and poetry. Nor is this the worst of it--within even this narrow circle, 1 the wings of authors arc clipped Nothing will go down but splendid tri- fles~-cold, formal, and empty as the 1 noddles that produced them. The deli 1 cate wit, of Addison and Goldsmith, 1 the wisdom of Johnson, the humor of the authors of Salmagundi, have all de- sccnded to the tomb of the Capulets. am much better pleased with the old fashioned magazines, that we used to read in our youth; within whose we'll furnished pages the reader whatever might be his taste, was sure to find something agreeable. Nothing within the range ofpolite literature was exclud- ed; nor was the editor so fastidious, as to reject a good article merely because t did not belong strictly to that line of writing. There we had biography, ori- 1 ginal correspondence, criticism, scienti tie, moral and witty essays, statistics. po- etry,anecdotes, riddles and conundrums. Here was feast of reason! and that reader must have been dyspeptie indeed, who could not find something to suit his palate. Every one who was blessed with the love for seribbling might then indulge that laudable propensity. Ifal new theory or new machine was in- yented-if a protector thought he had