The Arkansas advocate., 1834-08-01
THE SF 4. l. .lsL1gg4 GaTsss1 ra,r ss Tsr
 .N0. X. WRITTEN FOR THE ADVOCATE.

l iected to enter upon 1t. We have thouobt
 'liat IL would neither be amiss in us, no,
 uhPieasant to our readers to give them q succession ot crayon sketches of Ameri- can Writers and poets, marking with few
 strokes of the pencil, their exeelleneies and aeiects. Ihe literature of America IS vel III its infant state. Ne have had and st;ll nave many very pleasant writers and many good poets-but We have no great ones.-
 lhe poetry hitherto written in this copntrv consists, with one or two exceptions. of detached and short pieces, sparkling and fleh to be sure, but too ephemeral to confer a lasting name either on the writer or the country. Where have We a work, I will not say like mllton's " Paradise l.ost.n but like Chllde Harold, the '' Prometheus Un- bound," or even the ss Course of Time.~ of Pollok Che or two long poems have been written, II IS true, but they have hardly fisen above mediocrity, and are utterly ,in- equal to the shorter, more ardent, and more brilliant productions of the same authors.- we would point to many examples of this, but as we propose to take up, ore by one. all the principal poets in our numbers-if not all the principal writers of both kinds we shall omit any critical remarks for the present. It was merely our purpose in this introductory number, to advert 10 the fact of the Interlorlty of our writers, and to enquire into the reason of 1t. In the reGnisite of imagination and fancy we are not wanting -and the brieter articles Of many of our poets, are equal to any of the same class la Lngiish poetry. II Is n the sterner re- quirelnents ot poetry that we fail-and in the hdusay and application necessary to produce sustained and powerful wori3.- 0ef Poets cannat Keep up. hey make brilliant flights, but their wings flag and they taitagain. The causes which produce thls inieriorlty, are no less obvious than the lntenoriy itself. h our country there Is no powerful moneyed aristoeraey-and con sequenay there are fewer men who start III lie without necessity for exeftion and industry. Of the nultitudes continually poured forth from our colleges, by far the greater proportion consists of young men without fortunes, who look to profession as the onl y means of support Such men are many of our poets-young and
 tQOft elilt oA HI dies, and afterwards in the more arduous, expressing and continuous duties of their professions. Some are bankers, as Sprague of Boston-some are editors, as Bryant and LeggeH of the Post-and many are lawyers. Under such circumstances, we cannot expect any thing more than hasty attention to poetry, snatched at intervals from the cares and epthralling duties of a profession, and the wild turmoils of the world-p perhaps, too, accompanied by the discouraging influence of poverty, and the cares of family. Their writings, there fore, breathe an ardent love for poetry, and a keen and fiery imagination-but their pur- suits in life forbid a sustained and continued effort. Neither is 1t strange that they should soon neglect and forsake the muse-for she requires no divided worship, and is soon weary of the iosthng and the teverish strug- oling for competence of her favored chil- dlen Ii is tue that genus will often rise above every tning of the kind, and burst out l. lieht over the world-but Is also true that poverty IS not so unfavofable to its de- velopment, as an incessant employment III L1S UldN BDtSG LII AN&Cf Ol ANNN MI iilNhlStSN'
 Another reason Is, the small lndacement held out in this country to inc exertion of intellectual labor-utterly inadequate, as It is, to repay the time and labor required.-- The country Is too new, as yet, to offer the same reward as IS offered in England, ei- tier in money or fame-and this applies particularly 10 the West. The small en- couragement given to literature here, rem ders it useless to think, for the present, oi much excellence therein-and century must eapse before genius shall receive his proper reward from his compeera. In this 1 respect, however, every part of the coun- trv is improving rapidly. As wealth increa-
 ses. taste, and love for the productions oi
 genius becomes more common, and will af-
 ter time become universal. It IS not the
 disposition of the human mind which leads
 # to neclect literature, but 1t Is the force oi
 circumstances end of necessity-for the
 better and less earthly feelings which Tiff
 the poet into the realms of inspiration, be-
 lone also radically, though 1t may be In se-
 cref. to tho general mind of mankind. =
 Give men the ability whercwrth to foster
 genius and to encourage literature, and Il
 is always done. We may seem to say too
 much concerning poetry, and the Penurious
 and grossly moulded searcher for wealth
 may a ask us, as he plods on in his monoto- nons nath. what availeth it all!" What!
 ;s it nothing to remove man from the sor-
 did impulses which rule him in his tolls ol bis onpression?-to express with a power f which comes home to every heart, the no- bier feelings of nature, and those whlcf } alone make life endurabl les-the love o